


Dream Team + Friends One Shots

by Wilbutiswriting



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Blaze Hybrid Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Blaze Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Bottom Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Bottom GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Bottom Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Georgenap, Hate Sex, Hurt/Comfort, Karlnapity, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Other, Prince Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Prince Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Requited Love, Sapnotfound - Freeform, Smut, Top Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Top GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Top Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), dreamnap, dreamnotfound, fucking against a wall, no beta we die like george in manhunt, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:55:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29595195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wilbutiswriting/pseuds/Wilbutiswriting
Summary: Just a bunch of different random scenarios. Mostly fluff and angst.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound/Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 100





	1. The Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Fundy's wedding gets crashed by Dream's best friend George and they hide away in the bathroom for some time alone.  
> No smut.

My hands are shaking. I've known that this day was coming for so long, and yet somehow, I'm still not ready for it. I'm not ready to commit myself to this.

But I have to. I don't have a choice anymore. I'm already here, dressed, waiting at the end of the aisle for them to signal me in. Tommy looks back at me and grins, giving me a thumbs up and accidentally dropping a few of his flowers. He stoops to pick them up as the doors in front of us open, but he kicks himself right into gear. 

I follow behind him, for once happy that my mask covers my face. I don't have to plaster on a fake smile as I pass everyone and I don't have to wipe away the tears that are streaming down my face. And when he goes to kiss me at the end of our vows, no one will question why they're there. Tears are normal at a wedding.

I pass all the happy faces of my friends, trying to keep my shoulders from shaking. It would be easier to do if they had let me wear a suit, but unfortunately, I got stuck in a dress. I hadn't ever worn one before this, but I don't hate it. It's cold, but comfortable.

I pass the front row of pews without looking at anyone that's sitting there. I know who's sitting there, watching me walk up to what's supposed to be the best moment of my life. It just fills me with dread. 

Fundy holds out a hand to me as I approach the altar and I take it. His skin is cold like ice, which is surprising considering how covered in fur he is. He smiles at me as we stand across from each other, reaching out for my other hand and holding them gently between us.

I glance at Wilbur and he's smiling at us, clearing excited to get this rolling. Apparently, I'm the only person that doesn't want to be here right now.

It's only when I make the mistake of looking into the crowd of our brethren that I realize that that statement might not be completely true. Sitting smack dab in the middle of the front row, is George. For once, he's frowning and his shades are down over his eyes.

I know he's disappointed in me. He tried to talk me out of this so many times, but I kept telling him that it would be fine. Looking back, I think I was wrong. No matter how much I try to tell myself that all of this will turn out fine, I can't stop second-guessing it all.

Throughout Wilbur's speech, I keep looking out at the crowd. No. I keep looking at George. When we get to the line about objections, it's dead silent through the room and that kills me. Wilbur moves on and it feels like only seconds later he's asking for our 'I do's.

I manage to get mine out shakily, hoping that none of them can hear the panic in my voice. 

Finally, Wilbur begins to pronounce us as married. He's almost finished when there's a commotion from the crowd.

"I object!" George screams as he storms up to the altar, finally lifting his sunglasses off of his face. His eyes are red and dripping with heavy tears. 

Wilbur steps back off his pedestal in shock and looks around for a moment. "It's a little late for that, George."

"I don't care," He shakes his head and steps closer to me. "I object to this union."

"George?" His name slips from my mouth so easily, like it was always meant to be there. My hands drop from Fundy's. I lift up my mask and I hear a gasp flow through the room.

"Dream." His chest is heaving with breath as he walks up to me, reaching up to press his palm against my cheek. "Come with me. Please. Please, come with me." He tugs at my hand and I stumble behind him as he pulls me back down the aisle.

I hear shouting behind us, but I don't care. All I care about it my best friend and he's right in front of me.

He doesn't lead us out of the building, but instead into the bathroom. I watch on as he locks the door behind us, leaving us alone with only a few feet separating us. 

The distance doesn't last long. George pressed his face against my chest and I wrap my arms around him, dropping my cheek onto the top of his head. I close my eyes and tip my head further, feeling the weight of my mask slipping off my head and pulling at my hair. I don't even jump when I hear it clatter against the tiled floor.

Our embrace doesn't break for a long time, so many minutes I can't even count them. 

When he pulls away, his face is covered with crease marks and lace imprints. It makes me think about all the nights we've fallen asleep in each others arms, only for one of us to wake up alone. 

"I love you so much," he whispers, finally letting a smile play at his lips again.

The admission takes me by surprise, but it shouldn't really. I think it's something I've known for a long time. "I love you, too."

We stare at each other for a long moment, our breaths mixing between our faces until there's no room left for them and out lips press together. I'm sure I've bent down to get close enough, but I don't remember doing it. It's like I was drawn to him.

I give him a second to pull away, but he doesn't. Just buries his hands into my hair as I back him up against the bathroom door. 

His mouth molds perfectly to mine as I run my hands down his sides. I slide my hands under his suit jacket, using my fingertips to glide over his ribcage. He shivers against me and presses closer, opening his mouth to accept my tongue. 

We both moan and I reach up to loosen his tie, but I just end up throwing it over his shoulder when it gives me too much trouble. He laughs against my lips for a second before letting himself get caught up in our kiss again. 

I unbutton his shirt, letting my knuckles brush against his bare chest as I do. His skin is smooth against mine and I find myself dipping in further, pressing my entire palm against his chest and searching for his heartbeat to see if it's going as fast as mine is.

It is.

I slide my hand up over his clavicle, letting my fingers curl around to the back of his neck. His hands pull at my hair for a moment and then I find my own back against a wall. 

George stoops down, disconnecting our lips for a second as he pushes up my dress so that he can grab at the underside of my thighs. I let out a laugh as he lifts me up, pressing me into the wall as his lips find my neck. I gasp at the feeling of his fingers stroking the skin of my thighs.

"George." I drop my head back against the wall, pushing my hands into his hair and scratching at his scalp. 

I hear something hit the door, but I ignore it, closing my eyes and reveling in the feeling of finally having something I've dreamt about so many times before. George's hands slide higher, pushing at the bottom of my underwear.

A moan slips from my lips at the same time the bathroom door slams open. I look up, but George doesn't stop kissing at my neck. He doesn't have to see the shocked faces of the people that showed up for a wedding that never should have come to be in the first place. He doesn't see the face of his betrothed staring back at him.

I almost expect them to all storm in, but they don't. Fundy is the only one that steps forward. A crooked smile paints his face. "I knew you guys could do it. Even if it took a bit of a push."

With that line, he walks away, leaving a sea of other faces. Finally, Sapnap speaks up. "Why do they get to defile a church? It's no fair."

"I'll defile a church with you," Karl offers.

I laugh along with everyone else. Even George snorts out a chuckle against my neck. He looks up at me and we both grin, finally where we both always needed to be. In each other's arms.


	2. He's Straight, Idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OC meets Sapnap and has conflicting feelings about the flirting that happens.  
> No smut.

I drop my head into my hands for probably the fifth time this hour. I'm sure everyone else here probably thinks I'm crazy, but I can't help it. This deadline is fucking killing me. It's been days since I've made any progress and it's due next week.

A girl in an apron comes up to my table with a soft smile. "Do you need anything else, sir?"

I just laugh and shake my head. "No, I'm fine. I promise I'll be out of here soon."

"Take your time." She winks at me as she walks away and I frown. 

Sometimes I forget that not everyone knows that I'm gay on sight. It's always weird to me when women hit on me. I mean, it's fine, but I just wish that maybe a guy would hit on me for once. Like that'll ever happen. 

I've never been a dick magnet, which I would feel fine with if women didn't constantly flirt with me.

Just as the thought crosses my mind, a familiar man slides into the seat across from me. He gives me an easy smile. "Hey."

My brows pull together. I can't place where I know him from. "Um, hi?"

His smile grows wider and he lets out a soft laugh. The sound hits something in my brain that's hard for me to identify for a few seconds. But once I do, I feel like my whole body just fucking shuts down.

I realize exactly who the man sitting across from me is. Of course, I should have recognized him earlier. I mean, I watch his streams all the time. 

I think he can see the moment that I figure out who he is, because his smile drops.

"Sorry." I snap out of my trance, reaching out to close my laptop. I shove it into my bag and grab my drink. "Fuck, I have to go."

I throw my bag over my shoulder and shake my head, silently berating myself for making it weird as I walk away. I hear the sound of a chair scraping along the floor and then there's a hand wrapped around my wrist. 

"Wait," he says, tugging at my arm so that I turn around. When I do spin to face him, he's a lot closer than I was expecting him to be. He drops my arm, but keeps his hand held out. "I'm Nick." He takes a step closer to me, putting his lips next to my ear. "But you can call me Sapnap." He steps back.

My cheeks heat up and I nod, reaching out to shake his hand. "I'm Archer."

He smirks at me. "That's a nice name."

My brain feels like it malfunctions. I've seen that little smirk so many times before. Someone fucking kill me right now.

I don't know why I'm being so weird. He's straight. He's straight. He's straight. Maybe if I tell myself enough times, I'll actually get it through my fucking head. I can't crush on straight guys anymore. I'm not in high school. I'm an adult now. Technically. I have a job and everything.

I pull my hand away and smile at him for a second. "Well, it was nice to meet you, but I've got to get going."

"Oh." He frowns and nods at me. "Right. Well, uh, see you around."

I don't say anything else, just step away from him and leave the café. I don't even have anywhere to be, so I just walk home.

"Hey," Bee says when I walk into our apartment, turning to look at me from their place on the couch. "Did you get anything written?"

I shake my head. "Nope. Still fucking nothing." I drop down to sit next to them.

"You'll get it done." They smile at me and clap their hand down onto my shoulder. "I believe in you."

I smile and drop my head back against the couch cushion. "Something interesting did happen while I was gone."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." I look forward again, reaching to grab the remote off the coffee table. I turn our TV on and click into YouTube, starting to type in what I'm looking for. "I met someone."

"'Someone'?" They ask, leaning forward with their elbows on their knees.

I shrug, starting a compilation of funny moments on the TV. "Yeah."

"Do they have a name?" They pry a bit further.

I chew my lip for a second. "Yeah, he has a name."

They're silent for a moment. "What is it?"

I point at the TV. "Sapnap."

"What?"

"I met Sapnap."

"Why don't you sound happy about that?"

I sigh, dropping the remote onto the couch and shaking my head. "Because I'm an idiot."

"You're an idiot?" They ask with a little bit of a laugh in their voice. "If you're an idiot, then I'm a fucking moron."

"I think both of those are accurate." I grin and they slap my shoulder with a huff.

"For that, you get to make dinner tonight."

I laugh and shake my head. "At least I won't burn down the kitchen." I get up and start making my way to our small kitchen.

"That was one time!" They call out behind me.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My deadline has come and passed, as have many others since the last time I stepped foot in this café. Usually, I'm in here almost every day, but I haven't come back in weeks. I could lie to myself and say that I'm not sure why I haven't been back, but I know why.

And it's the stupidest reason ever. I don't know why my head thinks that he would come back here just to see me. I'm not important. We talked for all of maybe three minutes.

And he's straight. 

I just need to keep telling myself that. Otherwise, I might convince myself that he was flirting with me the other day. 

The girl at the front counter gives me a smile as she takes my order. I pay for my stuff and walk away, almost sitting at my regular table, but instead I end up passing right by it and dropping myself into the small booth in the back corner of the dining area. 

I pull out my laptop and try to get to work. It's noon on a Wednesday, so I'm one of the only people that's actually sitting down to wait for my order. Just about everyone else in the establishment is standing around and tapping their toes as they wait for their orders so they can head back to work.

It's takes a bit longer than usual for my hot chocolate to be set onto my table, but I don't blame the employees. They've got a lot on their plates right now. I start to say my thanks when a plate slides up next to my drink.

"I didn't order..." I trail off as I look up. Of course he's here.

"I ordered it." He slides into the booth across from me and a grin. "Figured we could share."

I frown, closing my laptop and reaching for my drink, taking a small sip. When I'm done, I slip my laptop into my bag again. Clearly I won't be getting any work done today. "Why would we do that?"

His brows pull down and he squints at me. "Because it's fucking cute."

"To share a cinnamon roll?"

"You know what? Never mind." He grumbles to himself and grabs his plate. "I try one goddamn time to be sweet..."

"Wait." This time, I'm the one reaching out to grab his wrist. "Please, sit. I didn't mean to be rude." He drops back into his seat and I frown. "I'm sorry. I'm just not used to... Whatever is happening." I bring my drink up to my lips.

"We're on a date." He smiles that smile that really shouldn't be cute on a grown man, but somehow it is.

I choke on my hot chocolate, spewing it onto the table. "A what?" I manage to cough out as I reach for napkins to wipe the cocoa from my nose and chin.

"A date?" He raises his eyebrows and smirks at me. "Like, that thing people do when they like each other?"

I toss the napkins away from me and shake my head. "That's called sex."

"We could do that, too." He shrugs and licks his lips, tearing off a piece of his cinnamon roll and popping it into his mouth.

"Very funny." I shake my head at him and sigh. "Look, this is cute or whatever, but I really should be working."

He frowns, taking a few more bites of his cinnamon roll. "It wasn't supposed to be funny. I was flirting."

I raise my eyebrows. "You do know I'm a man, right?"

"That's literally the point." 

I frown. "You're straight."

"Says who?" He smirks and leans his forearms onto the table.

"Your Wiki page, for one."

He takes another bite of his cinnamon roll, over half way finished by now. "You shouldn't believe everything you read online."

Is this a fucking prank or something? I'm not George or Dream or Karl, so why the fuck would he be flirting with me like this? I would have never taken him for being the kind of guy that would be aimlessly cruel towards someone that he doesn't even know, but I could be wrong. I mean, people are different online than they are in real life. He might just be a major asshole.

I take a sip of my drink and look him over for a few seconds. He's happily snacking on his cinnamon roll, glancing at me every now and then as he licks the icing off his fingers. There's a gentle smile on his face the whole time that makes it even harder for me to believe that he's fucking with me. 

I grab my bag and my drink. "I have to go."

"Oh." He frowns and starts wiping his hands off with napkins from the table. "So soon? You didn't even have any of our cinnamon roll."

I stop for a second, a sigh leaving my body and making me deflate. "I have a lot of work to get done. I'm sorry."

"Can I have your number, at least?"

I frown and shake my head. "I don't think that's the best idea." I can't get played by another straight guy that wants to experiment or whatever is happening here.

"Oh." He nods and looks back down at his cinnamon roll, picking the remainder of it apart.

I can't even will myself to tell him good-bye before I walk away.

Back in the apartment, Bee is knitting on the couch with a smile on their face. It quickly falls when they see me. "You're back really early. You look like shit. Did something happen?"

I just groan, dropping my bag next to the couch and collapsing next to Bee. "He was there."

"Sapnap?"

I nod and drop my head onto their shoulder. "He wanted to share a cinnamon roll with me."

"That's cute." I turn my head to glare at them and they give me an exasperated look. "What? What happened?"

"I'm not doing this shit again with some curious straight boy."

Bee sighs and wraps their arm around my shoulder. "You can't keep letting him control your life. Not every guy is like that."

"I know." I cross my arms over my chest. "Of course I know that, but Sapnap is straight."

"He's young enough to still be discovering himself."

I let out a huff and shake my head, standing up to grab my bag. "I'm going to my office. I have a lot of work to do."

"Sure you do," I hear them say under their breath as I leave the room.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"He's streaming," Bee calls from the living room as I bring out our dinner. They take their plate from me so that I can sit down.

"Cool." I start eating my food, not taking my eyes off the plate. They've been watching his channel since I came home yesterday.

"Do you want to watch?"

I just shrug, pushing my food around on my plate as they open the stream.

Dream's wheeze-laugh fills our living room. "You bought them a cinnamon roll?"

"Shut up." Sapnap's voice doesn't hold any of the humor that it usually does. I look up at the screen, but his face cam isn't on. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Aw, come on." Dream whines playfully. "You didn't even finish the story." 

Sapnap doesn't say anything as George and Dream start ribbing him. They both keep going, even without any input from him. 

"Will you guys please fucking shut up?" He finally says as he fights off some zombies.

"Finish your story." Dream probes, hitting him in game.

"Yeah, come on." George joins in, both of them hitting him over and over.

He fights back for a few seconds, but they overtake him and beat every last heart out of him. "Fuck! Fine! You assholes wanna know what happened? He walked out! He turned me down! Now, fuck off."

The VC is silent for a few moments as George and Dream seemingly gather their thoughts. Dream is the first to speak up. "'He'?"

Another short silence and then the stream goes blank.

"What the fuck?" I sit up, placing my dinner on the coffee table.

"Huh," Bee chuckles, "Would you look at that?"

"Why are you laughing?" I stand up and shake my head.

They shake their head at me and sigh. "Because you're an idiot."

"Wow," I roll my eyes at them. "Thanks. I wasn't already feeling bad enough."

"You know what you have to do, right?" They grin at me smugly.

"What?"

They let out a little laugh of triumph. "You have to message him and fix this."

That pushes a laugh out of me. "And how would you suggest I do that? Should I send a message by pigeon? Or maybe I'll just yell out the window?"

"Just go online and message him."

I scoff. "Yeah. He'll totally see that."

"He could," Bee sings as they grab our plates and take them into the kitchen again, clearly being able to read that I'm no longer hungry.

I huff, but pull out my phone anyway. It's not like anything will come of it, but Bee will bug me for weeks if I don't at least try. I open Instagram. He's not as active there, so there's little chance he'll respond.

_ hey _

That's all I send. I drop my phone beside me. At least now I can say I tried.

I go to turn the TV to something else when I feel my phone vibrate beside me. I don't let myself get too excited. It's probably just a random notification. At least, that's what I tell myself as I lift my phone up and look at the screen.

There's a response.

_ oh hi _

I swallow down my guilt.

_ i'm sorry i was wrong about you _

_ yeah _

his response comes through ridiculously fast, only making me feel worse.

_ can we talk? _

This time he takes longer to respond.

_ sure _

I sigh with a mixture of relief and nerves.

_ awesome. meet me in front of the café in twenty. _

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tug at the bottom hem of my sweatshirt while I wait, chewing nervously at my lip and constantly fucking with my hair. I'm feeling skittish, but I know if I come back home without even talking to him, Bee is going to nag me for it. Well, that and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. He sounded really hurt earlier.

I pull my beanie down further over my ears. I should have grabbed my coat on my way out of the apartment, but I wasn't thinking about it. 

"Hey." I turn around to face him, suddenly realizing why he probably didn't have his face cam on earlier.

"You've been crying."

He touches his face for a moment and frowns. "Uh, yeah."

I take a step forward and he just watches me wearily for a second. I drag my other foot forward, leaving barely a foot of space between us. "I'm sorry for yesterday. I was..." I sigh and reach a hand up to fuss with my hair. "I have a few hang ups about straight guys and I really let it fuck with me. I didn't mean to make an ass of myself like that."

His eyebrows pull together and he starts to reach out his hand, but stops himself short of touching my cheek. My hand shoots up, guiding his palm to my face. He gives me a small smile. "You were kind of an ass."

I laugh, pressing his hand harder against my skin. "I know. I was hoping to maybe fix that."

"Yeah?" He gets a little closer. "And how did you plan to do that?"

I grin at him as his lips get closer to mine. "Well, I thought I'd start with a cinnamon roll."

He lets out a little giggle and rests his nose against mine. "That sounds perfect."


	3. Hate You, Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapnap annoys Dream while he plays Minecraft and Dream snaps.  
> Bottom!Sapnap  
> Top!Dream

"You're such a bitch," I laugh as I watch Dream die again from over his shoulder. He lets out a grunt, but otherwise doesn't respond. I know he's not happy that I'm here, but there was no way I wasn't gonna take my chance to fuck with him in person. "You know, you could just-"

"Shut up." His jaw clenches and his hand tightens on his mouse. "I don't need your fucking help with this."

He dies again and I cover my mouth to hide my giggles. "Dumbass."

He reaches up and whips his headphones off, tossing them away from him and turning to look at me. Dream looms over me and for the first time in the last hour I've spent here, I'm nervous. I wasn't even supposed to come on this trip, but the guys begged me to. I couldn't let them down. Plus, it's not my fault they left us here alone.

"Call me a dumbass one more fucking time," he growls as he walks toward me, forcing me back until I'm against his bedroom wall. "I fucking dare you."

That's kinda hot. Not that I'd ever tell him that. I muster up some faux confidence and give him a smirk. "Dumbass."

That flips a switch. Dream grabs my head, tugging at the hair on the crown of my head. "You think you're fucking funny, SnapMap?"

I feel my own jaw tick at that stupid nickname. "I am funny. Unlike some green idiots."

"You're so fucking annoying." He shakes his head at me.

"I know you are, but what am I?" I stick out my tongue.

He glares at me as I laugh at my own childish joke. I only stop laughing when the feeling of his fingers grabbing my tongue makes me choke. He pulls and pinches, bringing our faces a little closer. "You're such a fucking child."

I have a quip on the tip of my tongue, but am unable to get it out because of his grip. He raises his eyebrow at me, eventually letting me have my tongue back. I grin up at him. "The law says otherwise."

He rolls his eyes at me, shaking his head again. "I fucking hate you, dude."

"Hate you, too." I smile and wiggle my eyebrows at him. I make kissing lips at him jokingly.

Apparently, he doesn't think it's a joke, because he bends down and covers my mouth with his own. For the first few seconds, I just stand there, unsure of what to do. Dream's lips curl up against mine and I finally let myself kick into gear.

I grab the sides of his face, working my lips against his. He slips his hands down my frame to grab at my hips, pressing me more firmly into the wall. His grip is firm and for a moment, I almost forget whose lips are against my own as I let a moan slip out of my mouth.

He doesn't let me forget for long, pulling his face away and chuckling at me. "Enjoying yourself?"

The question itself turns my mood sour. I roll my eyes and push him off me. "Go back to your fucking game. It'll probably be easier to help you with that than to teach you how to kiss."

He sneers down at me, moving one hand up to my neck. "Shut up. You know you liked it."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." 

His hand draws my head up, pushing my jaw until it can't go any higher. A smirk pulls at one side of his mouth. "I know one thing that could help me do that."

My brows pull together as he descends on my mouth again, holding me against the wall with his body. I grab the front of his shirt, stuck between pushing him away and pulling him closer. He doesn't give me much of a choice when he presses himself against me like this, keeping me pinned.

With anyone else, I'd probably be able to push them off of me, but I'm not sure I could-or would even want to-push him away. For one, he's bigger than me. Tall and sturdily built. 

Fuck.

I let my hands relax and slide down his chest. His hand moves to the back of my head and his tongue slides along my bottom lip, urging me to open my mouth. He groans, pressing his hips against mine when our tongues finally start to slip against each other's. 

I gasp at the feeling of his dick grinding against mine. 

He pulls back for a second to breathe, looming over me with a confident smirk on his stupid face. "If only I knew all this time that it was that easy to get you to shut up."

I scoff and shake my head, "Fuck you, you fucking-" I don't get to finish what I was saying because he grabs the front of my sweat shirt and swings my body until I fall backwards onto his bed. 

I stare up at him as he crawls on top of me, forgetting everything that I was trying to say as he hovers over me. That stupid fucking smirk is still on his face as he lowers himself on top of me. "Well, if you insist."

It takes me a second to get the joke, but as soon as I do I shake my head at him. "Not literally, you idiot."

"You know you want to," he sings, gliding the tip of his nose against mine. 

I feel my face heat up as I push against his chest. "Why would I ever want to do that?"

"Because I'm hot."

I snort out a laugh and roll my eyes. "So what?"

"You're not denying it." He brushes his lips against mine and lets his eyes slip closed.

"Why would I?" I grin to myself as an idea forms in my head. I grab his ribs and he sighs, settling further against me. And I push up against him, tossing him onto his back and climbing on top of him. I grab his wrists, pinning them to the bed with a smile as his eyes shoot open with shock. 

He tugs at his arms, but even I can tell it's half-assed on his part. He looks up at me defiantly. "Well, you've got me pinned. What now?"

"I've got a few ideas." I move my hips against him, groaning at the pull of his sweats against my dick.

"Oh, yeah?" He smirks at me and I only have a few seconds to think about what that might mean before he yanks his arms from my grip. He pushes himself up into a sitting position, then grabs my thighs and stands, pressing me to the wall again. "How the tables turn."

I roll my eyes, resting my forearms on his shoulders. "You suck."

"I can." He wiggles his eyebrows at me for a moment as he readjusts his grip, moving his hands to my ass. 

"Then do," I suggest. "It would be a better use for you mouth than talking."

At that, he chuckles and releases his grip on me, letting me slide my legs down until my feet touch the floor. Once I'm settled, he drops himself to his knees and starts working on my shorts. I'm in shock long enough for him to get my shorts and underwear around my ankles.

He grins up at me as he wraps his hand around my dick and I throw my head back with a moan. Dream lets out a small laugh before I feel the slide of his tongue against my tip. The heat of his mouth slides down my shaft and I instinctively reach for his hair, curling my fingers in the strands. 

I cry out as he bobs his head on my dick, choking and gagging against me. I thrust into his mouth, letting out a litany of groans at the feeling of his tight throat constricting around the head of my dick. "Fuck, Dream."

He pulls off, grabbing my hips and pushing them away from his face. I look down and he's staring up at me. "Turn around." He pants against my thigh before straightening his posture. It's only then that I realize just how hunched over he had to get to put my dick in his mouth. "Turn." He pushes my hips in an attempt to twist them and I let him guide me until my front is pressed to the wall.

"Now what?" I flatten my palms against the wall and turn my head, letting my cheek rest against the smooth surface.

"Don't worry about it." He bites at one of my ass cheeks. It's only when he tugs my cheeks apart that I realize what he's doing.

"Dream, I-" I cut myself off with a moan as his tongue swipes over my hole. I've never felt anything like it before. 

His hands are gripping my cheeks, holding them apart as his tongue dives into my crack. My fingers curl against the wall as he pushes me forward and my dick presses against the smooth surface. Dream squeezes my ass before pulling his hand away. He replaces it quickly, giving my ass a sharp smack.

I let out a yelp and he chuckles against my skin, patting my hip gently as he stands up behind me. His lips brush against my ear. "Stay right here. I'll be back."

He pulls away, leaving my lower half cold with his absence. I don't move, even though my instinct is to kick my pants off the rest of the way. He's only gone for a few moments and I can hear him the whole time as he rummages through what I assume to be his bedside table. 

All I can think about the whole time he's away is how slutty I must look pressed against his wall with my ass out for the world to see. I can feel my thighs quivering in their attempt to keep me upright. Apparently, my body is as conflicted about this interaction as my brain is.

This isn't something I've ever really thought about before. I mean, Dream and I have been friends for a long time, but I never would have thought to put us in a position like this together. Him and George? Yeah, that makes sense. They have an insane amount of chemistry. 

And maybe that's why I've never let my brain wander to this before. Because I was afraid of hurting myself.

Dream's body slots back into place behind me, the biggest change that I can notice being the lack of clothes. He sets something on top of his dresser next to us, but I don't have time to see what it is before his hands are pushing at my sweatshirt. I just stand there as he peels it off of me, letting him guide my body to his own desire. 

Once that's gone, he bends down behind me and helps me take off my shoes, shorts, and underwear. I shiver, but not because I'm cold. His body is pressed against mine too quickly for me to even feel a chill. No, I shiver from the feeling of his dick pressing against the crack of my ass as his breath fans across the back of my neck.

"I've thought about getting you in this position too many times to count," he groans in my ear as his hands slide onto my hips. I look out of the corner of my eye at him and he smiles before moving his face down to kiss along my shoulder. "May I?" He grinds his cock against me and bites down on my flesh. 

I let out a heavy gasp and let my eyes slip closed as I push my hips back against him. "Fuck. Please."

"Is that a yes?" He chuckles, letting his hands roam my sides as he continues to thrust against me.

I nod. "Yes. Do it."

He moans quietly against my skin, giving my shoulder blade one more gentle kiss before pulling away briefly to grab whatever he put on his dresser. His body slides back into place behind mine easily. 

The sound of a cap being flipped open echoes through the heavy silence of the room. It's quickly followed by the sound of something liquid being squeezed out. 

One of his hands grabs my hip and pulls it backwards so that my cheeks are almost spread all on their own. It's an interesting sensation that's quickly replaced by another as a finger slips down my crack to tease the rim of my hole. 

Dream drags his finger around my hole a few times, rubbing gently until I feel myself start to relax. He kisses along my neck as his finger presses itself into me. He goes slow, which I'm grateful for. 

"How do you feel?" His voice is low in my ear. His second hand slides up the front of my body, feeling every inch of my skin that he can touch.

I let out a breathy whimper. "Good."

"Yeah?" The feeling of a couple days growth of stubble pricks my skin as he nuzzles my neck. He brings his face up as he slides his finger in and out of me, fusing our mouths once more. 

He works a second finger in beside the first one, curling them and tugging at my rim to open me up more. I let out a moan against his lips, taking one hand off the wall to grab his hair. 

"Please," I whine, cursing myself when I hear how desperate I sound.

Dream chuckles against my lips. "You're not ready yet. Give me a few more minutes."

With that, he presses in a third finger. A needy sound pushes itself out of my throat. "Dream."

"You can call me by my name, ya know." He smirks, dropping another kiss to my lips.

I shake my head and grind my teeth. "I know. This is just easier."

"Whatever you say," he laughs as he tugs his fingers out of me. I groan at the empty feeling it leaves me with.

The sound of foil crinkling comes from behind me and I use what little vision of him I have to peek at what he's doing. I catch the slightest glance of him rolling a condom onto his dick before he slots his body against mine again. 

"You're sure?" 

I nod. "Yes. Do it."

He lets out a small sigh and I feel the head of his dick pressing at my hole. It takes him a while to actually push into me. His hands land on either side of my head and his chin rests on top of my hair as he slides into me. 

I let out a heavy gasp as the sensation of him filling me up pulses through my body. "I never knew it felt like this."

"Fuck," he groans, dropping his face into the mop of my hair. 

I reach back, sliding a hand onto his hip as he pulls back and thrusts into me again. He drops his hands from the wall, one gripping my hip and the other sliding onto mine to lace our fingers together. He lifts our joined hands back up to the wall over my head. 

I moan, reaching my free hand down to jerk my dick. I've never felt anything like this. The sensation of being completely full makes my head feel dizzy. Luckily for me, Dream is using his body to hold mine up. He's probably the only thing keeping me upright at the moment. 

"Sapnap," he snaps his hips and moans, moving his hand from my hip to that he can wrap his arm around my chest. 

I drop my head back against his chest, forcing him to move his head too. He scrapes his teeth on my neck as he fucks me and I feel my body go limp, completely at his mercy. I don't even have the coordination to keep stroking my dick, so I just drop my hand and place it on the wall in front of me.

The sound of his breath on my skin and his hips slapping against my ass are the only ones I hear anymore. Every sound I make is drowned out by his. Suffocated by the sensations that are travelling through my body. 

He drops our hands from the wall, reaching down to tug on my dick as he moans deeply in my ear. "I'm so fucking close."

"Me too," I manage to gasp out, somehow getting both of my arms set so that my forearms are against the wall.

He jerks me hard and fast, thrusting against me with a similar rhythm. "Do it for me. Let yourself go."

I whine, turning my head toward him. He takes the invitation easily, sipping from my lips as he gives me more pleasure than I've ever felt before. 

My body pulls tight and I tense up in his grasp, making needy sounds as my release shoots against his wall. As soon as I've finished, he pulls himself out of my. I hear something hit the floor and then the slick sound of a lubed hand on a hard dick. I just stand there, too busy dealing with my own afterglow to help him.

It only takes him a few moments to get himself to finish and I feel it splatter all over my back and ass.

He falls forward against me, breathing heavily as he wrap his arms around me.

At some point, he pulls away and leaves me to hold myself up. I'm on the verge of collapsing when he returns, gently wiping a wet cloth over the area that his release landed before turning me around and cleaning up my front, too. 

I can tell there's a goofy smile on my face as he guides me to his bed, but I don't care. I feel so fucking good right now, even if I can barely feel my legs.

He helps me get under his blanket, crawling under with me and tangling his body with my own. 

"Well, that was certainly interesting." Dream's voice fills my ears and it's only then that I realize my eyes have slipped closed. 

I open them again and look at his face. "Yeah."

He lets out a short laugh. "Is that all you have to say?"

I roll the question around in my head a few times. "I don't know. Ask me later."

"Tired?"

I just nod, letting my eyes fall closed again.


	4. Excruciatingly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream convinces George to surprise Sapnap with a visit so that he can admit his feelings.  
> No smut.

"I miss you." Sapnap's face glows red through my screen and I feel a heavy frown take over my face. I want to say it back to him. I should say it back to him, but something inside me won't let me. 

Instead I just quip back with, "We just saw each other yesterday." Internally, I cringe as soon as the words fall from my lips, knowing how cold and awful that sounded. 

His blush grows, but his wide grin falls. "Right. We did." 

He looks away from me and I take the time to try and pull myself together. I wish I could just tell him how I feel, but every time I get close to doing it, my throat tightens and threatens to choke me. I've never been good at expressing myself like that and I'm not sure I ever will be. Not verbally at least, which is why I'm hoping that Dream's plan will work.

"I can't stay on for long," I tell him. "I have to be up early in the morning."

"You're actually gonna leave your house?" That stupid smirk pulls itself across his face, almost making the pain I can still see in his eyes.

I scoff and roll my eyes. "Yes, actually."

He nods and quickly segues into a different topic of conversation. We only stay on for a few more minutes before I convince him I have to log off. I sigh and slump further into my chair as I double check the time. I still have about twenty minutes before I need to leave.

I hate having to lie to him, but it's necessary in this instance. Dream and I agreed that it would be for the best if we didn't fill Sapnap in on our plan. I've been freaking out all week, making sure to pack anything and everything that I could possibly need for a whole week while also trying not to overpack.

I stand up and go through all my bags one more time, just to double check. Once I'm sure that I have everything, I hoist my bags into my arms and make my way out of my house. Here I come, Sapnap.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The plane ride makes the drive to the airport seem almost like a bag of fun and the switch once I get into the US makes me want to tear my hair out. It's only when I feel us land that I finally feel like I'm no longer holding my breath.

As soon as I'm allowed to have my phone back on, a message comes through from Dream. Something about arranging a car for me that I don't think much about until I see a man in a suit holding a sign with my username on it. I roll my eyes and snort before approaching the man. He just gives me a nod and offers to help me carry my luggage to the car, but I shake my head and tug my backpack on a little tighter.

The man and I don't talk as we drive through the busy Houston streets, instead listening to the quiet music that flows through the car. 

The whole ride I'm just trying to help myself breath and convincing myself to calm down. Before I know it, we're pulling up to a house that I don't recognize a single bit of except the address. I text Dream to let him know that I've arrived. I thank the driver as I collect my things, then taking my time to walk up to the front door. 

My phone vibrates in my free hand and I already know what it is before I even look at it. I answer the call with only a brief amount of hesitation. "Hey."

"Hey!" Dream's voice rings through the call happily and I hear Sapnap snicker. "I wanted you to be included in my surprise for Sapnap!"

"A surprise?" I feign ignorance. "Are you sending him a dick pic?"

Dream wheezes. "No, not this time."

"What do I need to do?" Sapnap whines out.

"Just walk outside." I can hear the smirk in Dream's voice and it fills me with a small bit of confidence, pulling a smile across my face. 

"Walk outside?"

"Walk outside."

He's quiet for a few moments. "Give me a second."

"Take your time."

There's some rustling on Sapnap's end. "Okay. I'm walking to my door."

I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a second, before pushing them open again. I watch the door knob with baited breath as the sounds of him moving through his house hit me from two different angles. 

The knob turns and for a single second I consider running away, but I can't. I can't ruin this for Dream and I can't ruin this for me. 

The door swings open and I watch on as Sapnap's phone slips from his hand. "George?" 

Dream's wheeze laugh blasts through my phone a second before I hang up on him, shoving my phone back into my pocket. "Hey."

"You're here?" His voice is soft and disbelieving. 

"I'm here." I swallow back the nervousness that threatens to overtake me and smile. 

He stares at me for a few seconds, not moving as he scans my body. I just stand there, too afraid to move and ruin whatever minute amount of balance that exists in this sliver of time. Finally, he reaches a hand out, letting his fingers brush against my cheek for a brief moment before he throws his arms around me and pulls me against him.

I let out a strangled laugh against his chest, hesitantly stringing my own arms around him. He laughs against the top of my head, pressing his cheek into my hair tenderly.

"You're here," he chokes out, giving my body a squeeze before partially releasing me. He keeps a hold on my shoulders, smiling even though there are tears on his cheeks. "You're here."

I feel tears building in my own eyes, but I ignore them as I reach up to wipe his away. I may not be able to bring myself to tell him how happy I am to be here--to be with him--but I can at least show it. 

"Let's get inside."

He nods, reaching to help me carry my bags in before showing me all around his house. My gaze follows him during the entire tour and not in the way that it should, forcing me to shift my focus every time he glances at me out of the corner of his eyes. 

We end up back in his bedroom, alone with my bags on the floor by his bed and I feel the weight of silence blanket us, but not in the comforting way that it usually would. This silence is suffocating and warm, making my throat constrict like I'm about to give someone bad news. 

I thought all of this would be easier. Or, I guess, I let Dream convince me it would be easier than this. He just kept telling me that all I would have to do is hang out with him and then I'd almost magically be able to tell him every feeling I've had since birth. Well, maybe that's not exactly what he said, but that's how I interpreted it. 

Sapnap sits down on the edge of his bed and I stand around for a few moments before finally just grabbing the chair at his desk and settling into it. This room--his whole house, even--smells like him. I haven't gotten the scent out of my nose since I was pressed against his chest.

"So, how long are you in the States?" Sapnap shuffles around on his bed a bit, reaching for one of his pillows and tugging it against his chest. "Are you gonna meet up with anyone else while you're here?"

I chew my lip for a brief second before shaking my head. "Just you. I'll only be here for a week, so I can get a hotel room if you don't have the room."

"I've got the room." He gives me a hesitant smile. "Even if I didn't, we'd find a way. You're one of my best friends."

Friends. Right, we're friends. 

I give him a wide smile. "Thanks."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've never woken up in another man's bed until today and I honestly never thought that it would be this anticlimactic. In every story where this happens, one of them wakes up with a rock hard dick pressed to their ass, but apparently I live in the one reality where that doesn't happen. Either that or I'm even less of a main character than I thought.

I push away the cold sheets that are blanketed over my body with a yawn and make my way down the hall to where I remember the kitchen being. Before I enter, I double check that I'm wearing clothes. I've had this dream too many times where I walk in naked. If only I could convince myself that this scenario could end the same way that so many of those dreams do.

"Hey," I call out as I walk in, stopping short just inside the doorway. Sapnap is at the stove, wearing nothing but a thin pair of sweatpants. 

"Morning." He glances over his shoulder and throws me an easy grin. "I'm making some bacon and eggs. It's not much, but I figured if we're still hungry we can figure out something later."

"Sounds good." I bite a my lip, crossing my arms over my chest as I take a few steps toward him. I tell myself it's so that I can watch him cook, but the way my greedy eyes sweep over his form makes that harder and harder for me to believe. 

His shoulders are broad and strong. There are light smatterings of hair all down his back, with a few dark freckles sprinkled across his skin. There's a slight bulging of flesh above the waistband of his pants and all I want is to drop to my knees and bite it. His whole body is so tempting.

I close my eyes and shake my head, shielding myself from thoughts like that and taking in the scent of breakfast. 

"Do you have any plans while you're here?"

My eyes slide open again and I watch his side profile for a second before letting myself answer. "Not really. My main focus was just getting over here."

"How long were you guys planning this?" There's a bit of a chuckle in his voice as he glances over at me. 

My face heats up faster than I would like and I look away, letting my eyes trace along random points on the wall that's across the room. "Um, not very long. Dream and I were talking a few weeks back and he came up with the idea. He really wanted to come out here, too, but..." I can't tell him that Dream wanted us to have time alone. 

"But?" Sapnap looks at me a bit more directly, pulling the pan he's been fussing with off of the burner.

I just shrug and come up with something off the top of my head. "We'd already bought our tickets, but some stuff came up and he wasn't going to be able to come. He insisted that I should anyway."

His eyebrows pull together briefly, but he shakes whatever confusion he's feeling away and shifts his attention back to the food. "Well, breakfast is ready. Plates are in the cabinet beside your head."

I nod, pulling the cupboard open and looking up, up, up to where there is a stack of plates. I reach for them, cursing myself when my fingers just barely brush the lip of one.

"Oh." Before I can even register what that sound might mean, Sapnap is using his shoulder to nudge me out of the way so that he can pull the stack down. "I thought I had some on the lower shelf still, sorry. They must still be in my dishwasher."

I step back, trying to conceal the shiver that rocks through my body at the loss of contact. "All good." 

He sets the plates down and gives me a look that's hard to interpret, pushing his lips into a straight line. "Are you okay? You seem... Different?"

I clench my jaw and take a deep breath. "I'm fine. Just a bit nervous, I guess."

"Nervous?" He frowns. "Why would you be nervous around me?"

Instead of answering, I weave my way around around him, grabbing a plate and throwing some food onto it. 

I keep my head down the entire time we eat. I feel like I've already said way too much. Already laid out all my cards before the game has even started. 

By the time lunch rolls around, I find myself holed up in the bathroom with my phone pressed tightly against my ear as I desperately beg for Dream to answer my call. 

"Have you guys boned yet?" Is the line he decides to use on me when he finally decides to take my call.

A strangled sound leaves my throat and I close my eyes, dropping my back against the cabinet behind me and letting my legs splay further across the tiled floor. "I shouldn't have let you talk me into this. I can't even fucking talk to him."

"What?" His mood shifts. "What do you mean you can't talk to him? It's Sapnap."

"That's the point!" I yell at him without thinking, cursing myself and closing my eyes as I hope against hope that Sapnap didn't hear that. I gulp down my nerves and whisper into my phone. "I'm not gonna do it. I can't."

"How hard could it be?" He asks me harshly. 

"Harder than you think," I mumble, shooting a pissed off glance toward my lap. "I barely made it through breakfast. He was shirtless."

"Even less clothes for you to take off of him." I can practically hear the shrug in Dream's voice.

I sputter for a few seconds and it almost makes me miss the knock on the bathroom door.

"George?" 

I look at the door, panicked. "I have to go." I hang up and shove my phone into my pocket as I stand up, checking myself in the mirror before opening the door. 

He's just standing there with a look on his face like someone kicked him. "Are you okay?" He drops a hand on my shoulder to keep me in place. 

I just nod and force a smile. "Yeah. Dream was just being an idiot. As usual."

He squints at me. "You sounded angry." I just give him a shrug and his hand falls. We stare each other down for a few seconds and I watch as his face grows hard. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Don't worry about it."

"Don't say that to me." He snaps, taking a step closer to me and using his body to bracket me in against the wall. "I am worried, George. You're my friend and you're acting fucking weird. Tell me why."

I glance between the arms that are caging me in. They look strong, but soft. 

"George."

I look at his face, feeling for a second like he's more than just an inch taller than me. He's making me feel so small. "Nothing is wrong. I'm fine."

He glares down at me for a moment, then nods to himself and steps back. "Then I guess you won't mind if I give Dream a call?"

I feel my eyes grow. "Please don't."

"Then tell me what's going on."

I open my mouth, only to close it again when I find myself unable to say anything.

He breaths out a heavy sigh and pulls out his phone. I don't even stop him, just stand there like an idiot watching him. We both listen on as it rings over and over through the speaker on his phone.

"Sapnap?" 

"What were you and George talking about?" He gets straight to the point and I'm jealous of how upfront he can be right now.

"I can't do that." Dream pauses for a few seconds and I can imagine him shaking his head at himself and us. At me. "That's George's cross to bear."

"Well, he's not bearing it." Sapnap's voice has more bite in it than I've ever heard and I close my eyes so that I don't have to see how he's looking at me. "You're gonna tell me right fucking now so I can fix it or I'll drive out to Florida and kick your green ass myself."

The other end of the line is quiet for a bit. "He's with you right now, isn't he?"

"Right in front of me."

"Do you need me to say it, George?" Dream's tone is soft, barely brushing against my ears before it flutters away. "I know this kind of stuff is hard for you. I thought maybe this would help, but apparently I was wrong. I won't say anything if you don't want me to."

I squeeze my eyes tight and swallow back the fear that's settled in my throat, then letting my eyes snap open. I take a deep breath as I look Sapnap in the eyes, pulling at all the bravery in my body in an attempt to help myself grow some balls.

"George?" Sapnap brings his free hand up to my cheek, stroking my skin with his thumb.

My lips fall apart and tears push against the back of my eyes as I fight with myself. "I..." My breath catches, but I push through anyway. This has to come from me. "I'm attracted to you."

Dream lets out a sigh that leans a bit more toward disappointed than relieved. "That's not it and you know it. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't say everything." 

I curse him in my head as Sapnap looks at me expectantly. There's none of the disgust or anger that I expected to be drawn across his face, just concern. I close my eyes for the next part. "I love you, Sapnap."

I feel my shoulders fall, releasing the tension they've been holding since our video call the other day. Even if he rejects me, at least I won't be stressed like that anymore.

"I love you, too." My eyes snap open and I feel a tear fall down my cheek, but he quickly catches it with his thumb and wipes it away. "Of course, I love you, George. I've told you so many times, I'd have thought you would have caught on by now."

"Kiss!" Dream yells through the phone, pushing a quiet laugh from me and a loud giggle from Sapnap.

"I'll take it from here." Sapnap hangs up and shoves his phone into his pocket. He shoots me a little smirk before crowding me against the wall again, this time pressing his face almost flush against mine. Our lips brush with every breath either of us take, but every time I go to close the space, he pulls back a little. "Say it again. Please."

My eyes flutter closed as I manage to mutter out, "I love you."

I can feel his gorgeous smile against my lips as he finally kisses me. My hands clutch at his body anywhere that they can, fingers digging into his flesh as our mouths move together. One hand stays on my cheek while the other travels down to my hip, pressing us tightly against each other even as he draws his head away to take a breath.

We breath each others air for a long while before my eyes open again and I find myself staring right back into his. Before I know it, he's laughing. Spewing little giggles and soft noises that set me off, throwing me into my own laughing fit against him.

I wish I could tell the me from yesterday that it was always this easy.


	5. The Real Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karl has a hard time falling in love with real people, so when the crush he has on a streamer named Sapnap becomes a friendship, he's not sure how to handle it.  
> No smut.

Karl can't remember the last time he fell for someone real. Well, he can, but he doesn't want to. Every time he's ever let himself, it's ended with a broken heart on his side. 

Which is why he started turning his affections toward fictional people. Characters and actors and people that are just so completely unattainable that no matter how much he wished for something, he also knew he would never have to deal with heartbreak again.

Maybe someday he'll give his heart to someone and they'll take care of it. Maybe someday he'll let himself fall in love with a real person. Someone that he could touch and hold.

But today is not that day. 

Today, Karl finds himself back at his computer, tuning into a stream that's being broadcast by a man that will never know a goddamn thing about Karl. A man that will never know that Karl exists, except in the brief moments when he's reading out donations and says Karl's name. But even then, it's so fleeting and quick that Karl almost misses it sometimes.

His emotions are at the mercy of a man that calls himself Sapnap and plays Minecraft all day. A man that's almost fiction, but not quite. The closest Karl has let himself get to learning a real person in ages and it's exhilarating. It keeps him donating just to get that shot of dopamine through his brain when Sapnap says his username.

He's never let himself get this involved with his infatuations like this. Never let himself fully embrace what it meant to enjoy someone from a distance until now and it makes him remember why he only lets himself fawn over fiction. Real people can disappoint you and hurt you.

But it's almost like he can't stop himself from trying to get Sapnap's attention with donations. It started off with simple 'hi's and 'hello's, but has quickly snowballed into asking random questions and hanging on every word and laugh that comes out of the other man's mouth. Even without a face cam on, Karl can imagine what he might look like at any given moment.

The thrill he gets every time Sapnap reads out one of his donations almost always gets smothered immediately by the shame of being so involved and interested in the life of a person that he'll never really know from anything but a distance. Through a screen that acts like a one-way mirror.

Karl tugs the sleeves of his sweater down over his hands and shoves them between his thighs to keep himself from donating again. He's already dropped more than he told himself he would and he needs to be thinking about himself. Food, rent, and everything else that comes along with being an adult. 

At least when he was drowning in characters from novels, he couldn't give them money. Sure, he'd pay for the book, but even if he had bought every single one of those books again right now it wouldn't hold a torch to how much he's dropped on Sapnap in the past month since he found his channel.

As the stream finally ends, he fights with himself about donating another fifty dollars. He could definitely do it. He'd just spend a little less on groceries this week. 

The stream moves on to the next person before he has come to a final decision and he closes the tab on his laptop, feeling almost embarrassed as the next screen behind it is one of Sapnap's YouTube videos. 

He should stop. Just unsubscribe and block or something in an attempt to keep a sliver of his sanity, but he can't bring himself to do it. 

Instead, he pulls up Omegle, hoping that maybe random strangers online will take his mind off of the man that's haunting his every waking thought. Of course, he can't just leave it at that, though. He curses himself as he types Sapnap's name in as an interest for himself. Maybe someone will be able to help him figure out why he feels like this.

The first few people skip past him without a second glance, all of them clearly looking for someone else. Probably the same person he's telling himself he doesn't want to pop up on the screen, but also does want to show up. 

Which means that today is either his lucky day or the worst day of his life. 

He just stares at his screen for a few moments, unsure of what to say or if the person looking back at him is real. Sapnap looks just like he always does, with a small smirk tugging at his lips and a red blush blanketing his otherwise unmarred face.

All he says is, "Hi," and Karl's heart rate spikes.

"Uh, hi. Hello." He waves at his computer, then berates himself for the stupid move. Suddenly, he's aware of every facial expression he makes and every single part of his body from his chest up to the top of his head. He shoves his hair out of his eyes, wishing that he had gotten that haircut like he planned to last week.

"So, you like Sapnap?" The smirk becomes a lip being bitten and it sets Karl on fire. 

He nods, finding himself unable to say much when he's practically face-to-face with a man he never expected to speak to. "Yeah."

Sapnap gives him a goofy smile and leans closer to his webcam. "Nervous? You don't have to be. I won't bite unless you ask me to."

It's fake, Karl tells himself as he tries to figure out something to respond with. "Sorry, I just... I'm just kind of awkward." He hovers his mouse over the skip button. "I actually might just go. Let someone with coherent thoughts have your time."

"Wait!" He calls out and Karl pauses, watching the other man pensively through his screen. The blush across his face seems brighter. "Could I have your name, at least?"

Karl frowns, feeling his nose wrinkle with his confusion. Why would a man like Sapnap want his name? Under his breath, he sighs and shakes his head at himself, looking back into the camera as he says, "My name is Karl. Karl Jacobs."

"Karl?" Sapnap's voice caresses his name in a way that sends his body up in flames. "That's a cute name. It suits you."

"Thank you." Karl feels himself pulling away with a nod. "I really do have to go."

"Maybe another time then," Sapnap gives him a grin and wave, finally pushing Karl to close the tab all together.

A heavy breath pushes out of him and into the air of his apartment that suddenly feels cold around him, sending chills through his burning body. 

He's real. He's really, really real.

"I'm honked," he says to himself as he drops back onto his bed.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's only once the screen with Karl's face goes blank and moves onto the next person that Nick realizes he probably should have gotten more than just a first name from the sweet boy that he wanted to talk to again. A Twitch, a Discord, something.

The way his hair fell across his face was endearing and beautiful in a way that Nick had never seen on a man before. Not that he had really been looking for it. Something about the other man made his hands shake as he closed his browser entirely, not caring that he was ruining his own plans of surfing Omegle for a few hours. 

He lets his chair spin around and walks away from his desk. His brain feels fuzzy in a way he's never experienced before and it makes him feel like he should lay down, but his body can't follow through with it. Instead, he paces his bedroom floor and dials up the only person he knows he can trust with what's going through his head at the moment.

"What's up?" Clay's voice chimes through the phone and a smile pushes its way onto Nick's face at just the sound of his friend's voice. He takes a few seconds to figure out the phrasing of what he wants to say, but nothing seems quite right. "Sapnap?"

He takes a deep breath and shakes himself a little. "Sorry. I, uh... Trying to figure out what I want to say."

"Are you okay?" Concern piques in Clay's tone.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Nick is quick to assure him, even if he's not completely confident that that's the case. "I went on Omegle after my stream."

"Okay? Did something happen?"

"I talked to someone."

Clay lets out a short chuckle. "That is usually how Omegle works."

Nick laughs at himself and shakes his head. "I talked to someone beautiful."

He can practically hear Clay smirk at him through the phone. "You fucked it up, didn't you?"

"No." He cringes at the defensiveness in his voice and sighs, grabbing the bridge of his nose to try to push away the headache he can feel pressing into his brain. "Not really. I just... Forgot to get a way to contact him."

"Idiot," Clay wheezes out. "Did you get anything?"

"His name," Nick grumbles, feeling his face flush even darker than it usually does. 

"I can work with that."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another day, another stream that Karl shouldn't pull up on his computer, but he does. It's been over a week since he sat just across a screen from Sapnap and he'd been good up until this point. 

But he still can't help himself, even after having the earth-shattering realization that not only was Sapnap an actual real person, but that he now knew Karl's name. He replays the moment of Sapnap saying it in his head over and over as the stream loads. 

Sapnap has his face cam on this time and Karl clenches his jaw to keep himself from thinking about how similar he looks to last week. Before, he could at least tell himself that the other man might be rude or complete fiction, but now all he can think about is how sweet he was. 

Minecraft is on the screen, but Karl is barely paying attention to the gameplay as he drops a twenty dollar donation. The 'thank you' comes through a few moments later, quiet and unfocused until Sapnap looks up again with a small grin that couldn't be mistaken for anything but overwhelming joy.

His eyes pierce through the screen as he says, "Thank you, Karl."

Karl's breath shoots from his lungs and his eyes open wide. Sure, he wasn't exactly hiding his name with the user being KarlJacobs, but he didn't expect to be recognized so easily. He didn't expect Sapnap to even remember his name after he left their conversation, but apparently he did and that makes the butterflies that were already taking up space in Karl's stomach flutter and squirm. 

He sits through the rest of the stream completely dumbstruck, not making another donation in fear of... something. Being reminded, maybe, that the man he's watching through the screen knows who he is. That this man he's viewed almost as fiction for weeks knows who he is because he's real.

He almost closes the stream so many times, but finds himself unable to do anything other than stare on. Karl's so completely zoned out that he barely notices when the stream ends and moves onto the next. He hovers his mouse over the exit button for a moment, but pauses when he notices a notification he's never gotten. Something called a 'whisper'.

_ Sapnap: I found you. _

Karl feels his entire face drop at the simple message.

_ Sapnap: I almost thought I had made you up. _

Karl's hands shake and he pulls his sleeves down, clutching at them desperately with his fingers as he attempts to calm himself down.

_ Sapnap: Add me on Discord. I need to talk to you again. _

He does as he's told without thinking about it, following Sapnap's instructions without responding to his messages. Surely, this is some kind of joke or something. Right?

A call comes through immediately and Karl only hesitates for a second before he answers it. "Hello?"

"Karl!" Sapnap's voice is cheery and light. "Hi!"

"Hi." Karl chews his lips and frowns, unsure what the other man wants from this interaction. 

"Do you play Minecraft?" The other man asks hopefully. 

"A little." He shrugs to himself. "Why?"

"Wanna play a bit together?"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick knows it's a long shot, but everything in him is telling him to do whatever he can to have some of this man's time. He's hoping that his invitation is enough to reel Karl in until he can figure out something else to get his attention.

When they've both loaded into the world, Nick smiles to himself as he gets a look at Karl's skin in game. His character is cute and wearing a fun, colorful sweatshirt. He switches to third-person, appreciating the stark difference in their skins' aesthetics.

The world they're in has a village right next to spawn, so they raid it for supplies before setting off. Karl starts building a house while Nick strip mines for iron and other resources, both of them falling into comfortable conversation and rhythm together. 

The other man still pauses a lot when he speaks and goes quiet for long periods, but Nick just talks through that, hoping that making himself feel confident will help the other man feel better. 

When Nick comes back to the surface, he smiles at the sight of a cute little cottage sitting in the middle of the clearing they had found. It's mostly made of wood, but Karl keeps assuring him nervously that he'll change some of it once he gets resources from Nick.

"It's cute." Nick pushes, making his way into the little house and smiling as he looks around. Sure it's small, but it's sweet and cute and reminds him of Karl in ways he can't really explain, so he doesn't. Just wanders through the small rooms quietly and appreciates the man he's in the call with. "Did you build separate bedrooms?"

Karl stutters a bit as his character finds Nick's in the house. "Yeah," he says, clearly flustered. 

Nick shakes his head and breaks the bed in front of him, taking it to the other bedroom and slapping it down right beside the other one. "There. Now we can cuddle for warmth."

"For warmth?"

Nick laughs to himself. "Yeah. Wouldn't want you to freeze to death in your sleep." The light in the windows dims. "Speaking of, let's get to bed. You can be little spoon."

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm really not good at this," Karl mutters into his headphone mic and shakes his head.

"You can do it." Sapnap urges, hitting him again with his sword. "Just kill me."

Karl swings his own sword a few times, hitting Sapnap's character only twice before he swings back and kills Karl in only three hits. He lets out a frustrated groan and grabs his headphones, struggling to keep himself from throwing them across the room. 

"You didn't even try," the other man accuses. "We won't be able to beat the dragon if you can't even kill me."

"I don't care about the stupid dragon." Karl rolls his eyes and frowns as he respawns, running from his bed to collect all his stuff again. "I just want to build stuff."

Sapnap has been like this pretty much since the second time they played together, pushing for Karl to care more about actually beating the game and less about creating the little town that he's gotten about halfway finished. He doesn't understand what the big deal is. If Sapnap wants to kill the dragon, surely he can do it by himself. There's no reason to take Karl with him when all he'll do is be a distraction during the fight. All he wants to do is finish his town and kidnap a few villagers to live there. Is that too much to ask?

"You should still be able to kill a mob."

Karl just lets out a heavy huff once all of his stuff is back in his inventory and takes himself back to the main house. "It's dark out. I'm going to sleep."

"You can't sleep without me," Sapnap reminds him, following him into the bedroom that's grown about three times as large as it was the first time they played. Even with all the extra space, their beds are pressed together. 

"Get in bed then."

"No." His voice is full of determination and resistance.

"Fine, then I'll just lay in bed alone for the whole night."

"Fine." Sapnap leaves the house as Karl settles onto the bed. 

In real life, he reaches up to push the hair out of his eyes and grabs his monster, taking a long gulp of it. These last few weeks have felt completely surreal and Karl's just been letting himself go with whatever Sapnap throws at him, but recently he's been pushy about helping Karl beat the game for the first time. Karl doesn't give a honk about beating the game, he just wants to play and have fun.

"What the honk!" He exclaims as he finally looks back to his screen to see that he's somehow died in his sleep. There's a zombie on screen, looking like it's about to wander away. 

Karl respawns as Sapnap laughs at him. He collects his items just as the zombie starts attacking him again. He yells out, hitting it over and over and feeling his heartbeat spike. He knows that dying in game won't really kill him, but he has a hard time convincing himself that that's true when the zombie starts pushing back at him.

He cries out as he dies again, logging out of the server as quickly as he can and closing his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Wha-" Sapnap's voice breaks through his headphones. "You were supposed to kill it! Where are you? All your stuff is gonna despawn." 

"I don't care." Karl shakes his head to himself. "I'm done for today."

"It's only been like twenty minutes." The other man whines. "Get back on."

"No." He lets out a heavy breath and tugs on his sweatshirt sleeves. "I'm done."

He closes their chat without waiting for an answer, knowing that Sapnap will just try to talk him into staying longer just like he always does. Usually, he's just convincing him to build a little longer or watch as Sapnap does something cool. 

Karl's not scared. At least, not really. He's frustrated with himself and with the man he was just starting to see as a friend. Maybe all of this was a bad idea.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, Nick will admit that letting a zombie into their house while Karl was sleeping probably wasn't the best way to get him to fight, but he's been running out of ideas. He wants to help Karl beat the Ender Dragon for the first time, but that can't happen unless Karl is willing to fight his way there.

He falls onto his bed with a sigh. Maybe he should just leave Karl be and kill the dragon by himself. 

Before he does any of that, he needs to come up with a way to show Karl that he's sorry. Nick has only had a few friendships that have felt this way before. Like the two of them were meant to be friends. This is similar to how he felt when he met Clay and George. 

Similar, but different. Different, because he wasn't quite as drawn to them. Not in the way that Karl pulls him in. And it's clear that he doesn't mean to, that the pull that Nick feels is natural and completely in response to everything about the sweet boy that is currently pissed off and across the country. 

Nick decides to do the one thing that always helps him in situations like this: call Clay. Surely, he'll have some kind of advice to give.

He sets himself up at his desk again, hoping to find Clay popping around through channels. Instead, he finds Clay in their private VC with George. Good. Maybe they can both help him.

"Hey," He says as he pops in.

"Sapnap!" Clay yells in greeting. "I thought you were supposed to be having a Minecraft date with Karl."

Nick sighs and squeezes his eyes shut. "I was, but I messed it up. I need advice."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karl ignores another call from Sapnap and closes his eyes, hoping that maybe the other man will finally get the message. It's been three days and even though Karl feels like he's probably overreacting, he can't bring himself to face the shame that he feels for just running away from a harmless joke--a prank--that was never meant to actually hurt him. 

Sapnap was just trying to help.

His Discord starts going off again and Karl slams his laptop closed. 

He lays in bed, staring at his wall and trying to think about anything else other than the man that is somehow real and not all at the same time. The man that almost made him think that there wasn't something wrong with him and showed him how to fly high. Karl almost believed that he could be happy with a real person. And maybe he still could, if his own ego would let him just answer the calls, but even he knows that that's a long shot.

The shame settles in his body, making his stomach turn and his eyes water. 

Through his pity party, he hears something. A quiet knock on his front door. He frowns as he stands up, not sure who could be out there. His mother isn't supposed to drop by until tomorrow and he doesn't remember ordering anything that would be here yet.

Even with his curiosity, he doesn't check the peephole, instead choosing to swing his door open in a faux bout of confidence. He hopes for this to be a quick interaction so that he can go back and wallow in his own pity.

Of course, the Universe would never let him do that.

His breath falters and he takes a step back as he takes in the sight of the man that's standing in front of him. A man that should be in Texas and definitely shouldn't know his address. 

His hair is mussed from the wind and his cheeks are bright pink. He has on a sweatshirt and a heavy looking coat, with a pair of loose jeans that lead down to plain sneakers. It's not a crazy outfit by any means, but it takes Karl's breath away with how good it looks on this one person.

"Sapnap?" 

The other man's face goes from worried to relieved in an instant, creases and lines smoothing out and allowing place for a smile and a set of dimples. "You're okay." His voice is hushed and breathless, like he ran here from his house that's almost a thousand miles away.

"Of course, I'm okay." Karl tugs at his sleeves, watching as Sapnap's gaze falls down and he looks at Karl's hands with a longing look on his face. "How are you here?"

He looks back up with his beautifully annoying smirk and raises an eyebrow. "Have you ever heard of a plane?"

Karl groans and shakes his head. "You know what I mean. How did you find my apartment?"

A guilty look grows on Sapnap's face and he looks away as he answers. "I may have gotten in touch with your mom."

"My mom?" Karl feels his hands shake and his breaths grow heavy in his chest. "What did you tell her?"

The other man's eyebrows pull together, confusion painting his handsome face. "That we were friends and I wanted to surprise you. Why?"

Karl lets out a relieved sigh, letting the cuffs of his sleeves pass over his face before he looks at Sapnap again. "No reason. Get in here. My neighbors are gonna start eavesdropping."

He tries to hide the shiver that wracks his body as Sapnap passes him, their arms brushing briefly before Karl rushes forward to close his front door. He shuts his eyes and pressed his forehead to the door for a second. 

This is going to be torture.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick sets down his bag in the middle of Karl's tiny kitchen that's just beyond the entrance to his apartment, taking in everything around him slowly. 

One room over, there's a couch that takes up about half of the floor space with a small TV across from it that looks like it hasn't been touched in at least a month. There's a hallway with two doors at the very end. One is slightly ajar, a stray t-shirt peeking out.

Karl steps up beside him and he smiles as he looks over at the other man, hoping that Dream and George were right that this might help with his situation. They were the ones that originally found Karl's mother by digging through his social media. They had been super persistent, insisting that they hadn't ever seen Nick as happy as he was after a session with Karl.

He's not sure if that's entirely true, but he didn't exactly feel like he had any evidence against it. Talking with Karl makes him happy. That's why he had to come here and see him. It's also why he tried to call like fifteen times on his way here from the airport.

"Your apartment is cute." Nick bumps Karl's shoulder with his own, pushing away the thoughts that tell him how perfect that felt. 

Karl just nods, still not looking directly at Nick as he chews his bottom lip and curls up the ends of his sleeves in his hands. "Thanks. I only have one bedroom, so you'll have to stay on the couch."

Nick lets a smirk grow across his face. "What? No cuddles with the homies? I'll keep my socks on if it bothers you."

That gets Karl's attention, his eyes shooting over almost nervously. "I don't think that's a good idea." His voice is hoarse and strained.

His gaze flits away again and Nick watches on as his body closes itself off, arms crossing and feet turning in as his head drops. Gone is the sweet boy that Nick came to see, completely replaced with a man that's so self-conscious and nervous that he can't even look him in the eyes anymore. It reminds him so much of their first meeting, and not in a way that might make him nostalgic, but a way that cuts through his chest and into his heart.

He reaches out, not missing the way Karl's body tenses under his grasp. He guides him slowly into one of two chairs that are in the kitchen by a tiny table. Nick crouches in front of him, trying to ignore how intimate the move feels as his knee drops to the grown between Karl's feet.

"I upset you." Suddenly, he realizes that maybe this wasn't the best idea. Showing up, completely unannounced right after they've had a falling out. Dream and George just made him feel so sure that this would fix everything. 

Karl glances at him for a second then looks away and pushes his hair out of his eyes. "No, I just..." He lets out a heavy sigh and Nick feels the puff of air fan across his cheeks. "I'm not good at any of this. At telling if this is some kind of sick joke or if you're sincere. This is why I..." He cuts himself off and chews at his lip again, pulling his arms up to his chest in a move that looks almost like he's protecting his heart.

Maybe he is.

"Why you...?" Nick pushes, hoping that his urging won't hurt his chances even more. There's something about the man in front of his that makes him want to make everything alright. 

Karl takes his time before he looks up from his lap, his gaze piercing through Nick. "Why I don't fall for real people. I never know what's really going on."

The words hit Nick like a stack of bricks and he feels himself almost fall over from the confession. "Fall for..." He trails off in complete disbelief and shakes his head. "You like me." A grin spreads on his face and he looks at Karl hopefully. "You like me."

"You don't have to say it." Karl frowns, attempting to pull his legs into his chest, but Nick's hands press down on his knees.

He levers himself until he's settled on his knees with his face at Karl's chest level. He reaches up letting his fingers brush against Karl's cheek and then his forehead, shivering at the feeling of his silky hair gliding along his knuckles. "You're the prettiest man I've ever seen."

Nick watches as Karl's face goes up in flames and he smiles to himself, pulling his body off the floor and tugging Karl up with him.

"What are-"

He doesn't let Karl finish. Instead, he presses their lips together for the briefest of moments before pulling away and hoping that he hasn't just ruined everything again. 

Karl's face is frozen in place as he stares at Nick.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Karl feels his hands grip at Sapnap's sweatshirt as his brain races, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Well, not really  _ what _ happened, but how and why and so many other questions. 

His lips are still tingling from the second of contact and he has the urge to reach up and touch them, but he doesn't. He just keeps his hands buried in Sapnap's sweatshirt. 

"Karl?"

Sapnap's voice breaks his trance and he finally lets his eyes focus on the other man's face. "You kissed me."

"I did." His voice is meek and wobbly, like he's afraid. The lines on his face grow deeper the longer Karl takes to say something. "Was that... Okay?"

Karl nods, finally giving in to his body's natural response and pressing his fingers gingerly against his sensitive lips. They curl up all on their own as he talks. "You kissed me."

He watches Sapnap's own face as it grows a smile that could blind every person on the block with how bright and happy it is. "I kissed you." One of his arms curls around Karl's back and pulls them closer together, the other reaching so that his hand can cradle Karl's face and stroke along his cheekbone.

As one, they lean in, letting their breath mingle for a moment before connecting their lips again. Karl lets out a light sigh and Sapnap giggles against his lips as Karl's hands tangle in his hair.

When they pull away, they're both breathless and red-faced, but neither of them complain as they stare into each other's eyes.

"Sapnap," Karl feels himself whisper.

The other man smiles and shakes his head. "You can call me Nick, ya know."

"Nick." Karl's lips curl upward. 

"Karl." He says back teasingly, running his hand along Karl's spine and pressing their noses together. 

They spend the rest of the afternoon tangled in each other's arms on the couch and then the night cuddled in bed with Nick's face pressed against the back of Karl's neck, making his skin tingle every time he takes a breath. Karl savors it as he feels himself drift off to sleep in the arms of a real person that makes him feel more than he's ever felt before. A real person that's here to hold him and appreciate him and want him. 

A real man that's better than he could have ever imagined.


	6. Making Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapnap and Dream used to be friends. Their kingdoms used to be united. Now dream can't remember why they aren't and it's Sapnap's job to help him remember.  
> No smut.  
> This one is not very good, if I'm honest. I shot it out in under an hour just to get it out of my head.

His eyes eat me up from his place just a few feet from me, making me aware of every movement I make and every sensation that rushes through my body. The blade of his sword digs into the skin of my neck and I hold my breath in an attempt to keep it from actually cutting me. 

My own weapon is still strapped to my hip, but I don't dare reach for it. Even with my shield as cover, I think he would still be able to see my arm move to grasp the hilt of my sword. He would surely slice my head clean off and then my kingdom would be without leadership. I can't do that to my people. My parents.

"Look what we have here." His smirk is taunting, just barely visible from below his helmet's visor. The only other part of his face that I can see are his piercing green eyes that are still roaming my body like it's his. "A little prince that's wandered too far from home. Do Mommy and Daddy know you're out here? Does your betrothed?"

"You don't have to do this." My hand grasps at the bricks that are behind my back, hoping to find a loose one, but coming up empty. "We don't have to fight."

A sharp laugh breaks through him. "Oh, we don't? Are you absolutely sure about that? Because my family seems to think it's the only way to end all of this. All I'd have to do is kill you and then I could have everything I've ever wanted."

"'Everything you've ever wanted'?" I scoff at the thought. "Don't you mean everything your parents ever wanted for you?"

"Same difference." He replies flippantly. 

"We both know that's not what you want." I lift my head, wincing as his blade slices my neck slightly. "You'll never be happy like that."

He takes a step closer, pulling his sword away and grabbing my hair to tug my head back, making me look up at him. I feel a trickle of blood slip down my neck. "When will I be happy then, huh? What do you think my happy ending is if it's not killing you and taking back my fiancé?"

I swallow down the nervousness that swells in my body and whisper, "We both know who's in your happy ending, Clay. You just have to accept it."

"That's not a happy ending." He sneers down at me, bending until the front of his metal visor presses against my nose sharply. "That's a stupid fantasy that I never should have indulged."

"No, it's not." I feel tears begin to well up in my eyes, but I push them back and will them not to spill over. I can't let him think that I'm weak. "You know as well as I do that we're-"

"We're nothing!" He screams, pulling back to tug his helmet off and baring his scars to me. One drags along his cheek and through his eyebrow. I still remember the day he got it.

We had been side by side the entire fight, constantly trying to get the upper hand with the beasts that had dared to try and attack our once united kingdom. We were slaying them left and right, but still more continued to come until we were both fighting three and four at a time. 

Just as I managed to slay the last one that had jumped at me, I had heard a scream and felt a body collide with mine. I had fallen to the ground with him on top of me, having to lay there and listen as he yelled out in agony before rolling off with his sword dropped to the ground beside us.

I had turned over and thrust my sword at the beast just in time to stop it from getting me too.

"We're everything." My voice is hoarse and I close my eyes as I feel tears start to slip past my defenses. "Why can't you see that?"

His face hovers over mine. "Because it's not true. I love-"

"Don't say it." I grind my teeth, finally letting my own anger take over as I push against his chest and watch him stumble back. "Don't you fucking dare."

"What are you gonna do about, Nick? Huh? You gonna fight me?" He ticks his head to the side, letting an empty smile cover his face. "You gonna kill me? Finally rid our kingdoms of the reckless prince and take all the land for your own? Throw my family in the dungeons?"

I shake my head. "You still don't get it!"

"Don't get what?" He bites back.

"Anything!" I shout, throwing my shield away and walking toward him. "You don't understand anything anymore! It's like you're a different person!"

I watch as his tongue slides along his teeth and he glares down at me. "So what if I am? I'm stronger now."

"You think this is strength?" I laugh and shake my head, placing my hand on my sword. "This is weakness in its purest form."

"Take it back!" He points his sword at me and I draw mine, letting the tip of it press against his chest where I know his heart sits. "I am not weak!"

We stare each other down, neither wanting to back down. 

I know he thinks I'm wrong, that our love wasn't written in the stars, but it was. From the moment I was born, we were meant to be together and nothing is going to stop that. Not even his parents and the fear they've managed to plant in his head. Not my parents and their ideas of what is right for the kingdom.

And definitely not some girl that I couldn't care less about. A girl whose name I only remember because my mother whispers it to me so very often to remind me that they basically sold me off to hide who I am. 

Even the split of our kingdoms has been unable to keep us apart, so why should anything be able to?

He's the first to holster his weapon, but I follow quickly, keeping my eyes on him as he stumbles back and falls on his ass onto the cobbled path that leads up to the small cottage he had me pinned against just moments before. "Just go. Go back to your family and your soon-to-be-wife and leave me here."

I stand over him, seeing the boy that used to climb trees with me and saved my life all those years ago. "You haven't been listening to a goddamn word I've said, have you? I don't care about that life or that woman. If you really want her that bad, then you can have her. Live out a fake life and pretend to be happy."

"You really think that we're meant to be together?" He stares up at me, but his gaze is almost aimless and empty. "You really think that you and I could be happy?"

"I do." I push old tears from my cheeks and hold out a hand to him. He takes it and lets me pull him to his feet. Neither of us drop the other's hand, even though our bodies are so close that our hands barely fit between us. "I think we could fix everything and be happy. Together."

He looks away briefly. "Why? I'm nothing like you."

"So?" I feel myself grow defensive, but I push it down. I need to reassure him, not push him. "What if that's what we both need? What we've always needed?"

He gives me a light smile that tugs at his lips more than I think he was hoping for. "We always were a pretty good team."

"We were." I agree, running my eyes along the lines of his handsome face appreciatively. Some people might find the battle scars jarring, but I know where almost every single one is from. I watched him get those scars, just like he watched me get mine.

Something dark casts over his face and he tugs his hand from mine, taking several steps back to put distance between us. "How do we know it'll work? We've only ever been friends. I wouldn't know how to be anything else."

I frown and my brows pull together. "You don't remember the last time we were here? At this cottage?"

Confusion takes over his striking features. "We've been here?"

I feel a rock form in my throat and I try to push it down. "You don't remember."

"Don't remember what?" His tone goes gravelly and angry. "What aren't you saying?"

"Your parents..." I trail off and shake my head. I refuse to believe they could do this to him. What kind of parents steal their child's memories? 

"My parents?" His hand shoots to his sword. "What about my parents?"

"We kissed here. Ten years ago before the kingdoms divided. It's the reason we no longer act as one, but two. Why we've been at war."

His hand falls limply to his side as he stares on at me. "We kissed?"

I just nod, closing my eyes at the thought of what must have happened to him.

"How could I forget that?"

I open my eyes, feeling new tears spilling over. "Magic."

"Magic?" The disbelief quickly falls from his face. "There hasn't been magic in this land in years, Nick."

I let out a heavy breath and shake my head. "Maybe not in your land, but there's plenty in mine. I might know who has your memories."

"I thought my parents had them?"

"No." I frown, shaking my head again, but harder. "No. They may have had them taken, but they wouldn't keep them around. I know a sorcerer that used to take memories from tortured souls. He always told me he stopped because his power was taken advantage of, but he never said how."

"My memories. You think this sorcerer might have them?"

"I do."

"Then lets go."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hike to this so-called sorcerer's house is longer than I thought it would be, giving me time to think and look over the man that's leading me. He's grown in the years that we've been apart, but he still looks the same as he does in the memories I still have of him. He's gained scars, but then again so have I.

If my parents are to be believed, I shouldn't trust him, but there's something inside of me that says he wouldn't hurt me. Probably wouldn't even be able to bring himself to do it if his own life was on the line. 

Finally, we reach the top of a small hill and I see a vaguely familiar house that's surrounded by bright yellow flowers. When I try to pull from my memory to think about where I know this house from a sharp pain shoots through my skull and I stop, hunching over in a vain attempt to keep myself from throwing up from the pain.

"Clay?" Nick's steps falter and I watch as his feet turn back toward me. "Are you alright?"

I shake my head and push down my vomit, standing back up and trying to ignore how lightheaded I feel. "I'm fine. Lets keep going."

He stays beside me, his hands shooting out every few steps I take as he tries to make sure I stay standing. I don't even brush him off, too focused on keeping myself on my feet and moving to care that he's treating me like a fragile piece of glass.

Finally, we step up to the sorcerer's door and Nick steps away to knock. We don't have to wait for long.

A little man opens the door with a grin. "Prince Nick. I expected you would be coming today. Oh, good. You've brought him with you. Come in, come in. We haven't got much time." We make our way in and he starts pushing us toward a cauldron that's set up in the center of a room. 

I look the little man over again, noting the odd looking goggles that rest in his hair and his shirt that's a shade of blue that I've only ever seen in the sky. 

"Let's get started, shall we?" He rubs his hands together for a moment before turning to the small table beside the cauldron.

Nick's hand brushes mine as we wait, bumping over and over again until I finally just grab it to make him stop. He has a stupid grin on his face.

My attention is pulled from him when the sorcerer pushes on my shoulder until I'm crouched and tears out a strand of my hair, throwing it flippantly into the cauldron. "There we go. All done. Let's get you those memories back, boyo."

I stand back up to my full height and shake my head to get rid of the slight sting. "What do we do? Do I need to drink that?" Even just the thought of it makes me feel sick all over again.

"Drink it?" The man chokes and laughs up at me. "No. Just stare into the cauldron and you'll see the memories that you've forgotten."

I look over at Nick, but he just shrugs at me, also clearly unsure of how this man knew why we were here without us uttering a word to him. We lean over the lip of the pot together, hands still bound and tight in each other's.

The murky liquid swirls around a few times, slowly fading into an image of the small cottage that I found Nick by earlier. He's there, but younger and the shine in his eyes is much brighter than it was today. 

His face is so close to mine and then suddenly my eyes are closed. We're making sounds I've never heard before, but I can guess what they are. 

When my eyes open again, he's being torn away from me and I'm being dragged down the cobbled path that lead us there in the first place.

Suddenly we're outside of the house we're in right now. My gaze sweeps over my parents, but it's blurry. 

They force me into the house, with the very same sorcerer sitting in the corner, not looking any different than he does now. He stands up, clearly shocked as I fall onto his floor face first with my parents bracketing my body and spewing some nonsense about a spell being put on me. They tell him how they need my memory erased--taken.

He performs the spell, clearly happy to help someone in need. Then he watches as they fill my head with lies about everything. My eyes are on him as he seems to realize who they are and what he's done to me. His own horror takes over and then suddenly my parents and I are in the castle I grew up in.

I stumble back, pulling Nick with me as I fall to the ground for the millionth time today. 

"What did you see?" He asks, getting onto his knees and grabbing the sides of my face tenderly.

I stare at him for a few quiet moments. "You."

He smiles softly. "Yeah?"

I nod, reaching up and grabbing the front of his shirt to pull him closer. When our noses are pressed together and our lips are brushing, I say, "We kissed."

"We did."

I close the last bit of space between us, reveling in the feeling of his mouth against mine. It's familiar, but so different. His lips are soft and hesitant against mine.

He draws away slowly, eyes still closed like he's savoring the moment. When he opens his eyes again, they're glazed over and dazed-looking. He licks his lips and smiles at me. "Good to know that some things never change."

I grin back at him as we both stand up and grab his hand. "Let's go take back our kingdom."


	7. Doodles of You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George draws pictures of what he thinks his friend Dream might look like in his sketch book.  
> No smut.

George's hand shakes as he pulls it away from the sketch book in front of him. It's been forever since he's drawn anything, but recently something has changed. He wishes that he could say that he has no clue what that could be, but to do that he'd have to ignore the drawings that are staring back at him.

They were just supposed to be sketches. Doodles. Not full on shaded pictures with dimensions.

The proportions aren't exactly the way he wants them to be, but they're close enough that it makes his breath catch in his throat. There are three small images on the page, all different perspectives and versions of a man he's never actually seen before. 

None of them seem quite right to him. 

One has hair long enough that it's pulled back and high, sharp cheekbones. Another has a week's worth of stubble and hair that's shaved almost all the way down. The last has hair that's barely long enough to fall into the subject's face and a bright smile. All three have the same freckles scattered across the nose and cheeks.

If only he could merge the images, then maybe it would fit the image he has in his head of his friend. 

His friend. Who he probably shouldn't be drawing in the first place. He remembers where drawing always led him when he was younger. 

And, fuck, if it isn't tempting to draw Dream in something skimpy that barely covers anything. But George can't draw that. At least, he shouldn't. 

He's about to tear the page out of the sketchbook when he hears his Discord go off, interrupting his music. Instead, he just shuts the book and pushes it off to the other side of his desk.

_ Dream: Get in the vc _

Fuck.

George adjusts his head phones and pauses whatever song is playing. If he's honest, he hasn't been listening since his pencil hit that page that he's trying to make himself forget about.

"George!" Dream yells as soon as they're both in the chat.

"Hey." George smiles at his idiot friend's voice. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just bored and wanted someone to talk to." Dream's voice is upbeat, just like it always is, but George can't help but read further into it. He tries to decide if Dream does the same thing with their other friends, or if it's just with him. "What all have you done today?"

George's eyes dart over to the sketchbook and before he can stop himself, words are spilling from his mouth. "I was cleaning my room and I found my old sketchbook. I've been doing a bit of drawing."

"That's cool." George can imagine Dream as a golden retriever, wagging his tail and excited about everything all the time. "What kind of stuff did you draw? Can I see?"

His teeth clench together and he closes his eyes. "I'm not sure that's the best idea."

"Ooooo." Dream taunts him. "Did you draw sexy pictures, Gogy?"

George sputters and shakes his head. "No."

"It can't be that bad." 

"It's not."

"Then let me see."

George drops his head into his hands for a second and looks over at the sketchbook, debating whether or not he should. In all honesty, Dream might not even recognize that George was trying to draw him. He might just assume that George was drawing three totally random men. That might happen.

"Whatever." George grabs the sketchbook and flips it open to the page with the three faces on it, taking and sending the picture before he can fight with himself over it anymore. 

As soon as the message says 'delivered', a rock forms in his stomach.

He waits, and waits, and waits as Dream sits on the other end of the line, silent in a way that George hasn't ever heard him be before. If he didn't know any better, George would almost say that Dream had left the call.

"These are really good." Dream finally says after what feels like ages of making George wait. 

Internally, George sighs, relieved that he wasn't caught. 

"Next time, just ask for a photo, though. I'd be happy to send one."

George's stomach drops and he feels his face heat up against his will. "What?"

"Well," He can hear the smirk in Dream's voice, "I just think that actually having a reference might help you to get it right."

"I-" He shakes his head, dumbfounded and stunned. He's not sure what to say.

Apparently, Dream does. "Actually, let's facetime right now. You can draw a live model."

George doesn't even have time to answer before his phone is vibrating in his hand. He doesn't even make the conscious choice to it, his body just does it all on it's own and he quickly tosses his headphones onto his desk.

Usually, when they facetime, Dream keeps his camera pointed at a wall or the ceiling, but this time he's there and taking up the entire frame with his face and shoulders. George doesn't say anything, just admires how beautiful his friend is.

Light freckles are sprinkled generously across tanned skin. Pink lips and a slightly crooked nose. Piercing green eyes that are almost covered by dirty blonde hair, but not quite. Day-old stubble that stretches across a sharp jawline and trickles just slightly down a strong neck.

"Dream?" George finally says, almost convincing himself that this is some kind of joke.

But then that golden retriever look crosses the other man's face and George knows that there's no one else it could possibly be. And all he wants to do is capture that look in a drawing.

He smiles back and picks up his pencil. Time to get to work.


	8. Finally, We're Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole gang gets together and Sapnap waits impatiently for some time alone with George in the room that Dream is making them share.  
> Bottom!George  
> Top!Sapnap

It's been forever since we've all been together, but we're finally here. Well, we're not all here, but five of us are and that's a bigger group then we've had together in a long time. 

We're all in Dream's living room just lounging around and catching up. Karl and Quackity are draped across the couch, kicking each other every time one of them says something dumb. Dream is laying the floor in front of them, occasionally reaching up to smack the other two. George is sitting in a lounge chair opposite of me, letting out soft laughs every once in a while.

His smile stretches so far across his face that it looks like it's about to tear in half. There's a soft glow of pink on his cheeks.

I've been trying not to stare, but it gets harder by the second and it's not alone in that fact. I squirm in my seat again, drawing a few glances before everyone goes back to talking. They cannot see that I'm hard right now. I would never fucking hear the end of that.

I drop a random line into the conversation periodically, but I can't stop thinking about where I'm going to be in a few hours. A bed with just me and George. Alone.

When Dream told Karl and I last night that there were only three bedrooms in the house he had rented, I was really confused. Until he sent me a devious look and then I got it. Of course, I should have known that I couldn't hide something this big from my best friend. He's smarter than that and knows me almost better than I know myself.

Even now, he keeps shooting me knowing glances and smirks as he talks with everyone else. All I want to do is crawl into myself and disappear.

Dream told George and Quackity that they would have to share rooms with Karl and I almost as soon as we saw them at the airport. Of course he wasn't going to disturb his own sleep by allowing one of us to sleep in the same bed as him. No, he left that pleasure for the rest of us.

Quackity and Karl had basically called dibs on sleeping in the same room and I had rolled my eyes at them while George quietly declared himself my roommate for the next three months. Twelve weeks. Ninety days.

We all spend the evening laughing and joking around with each other and talking about different things we should do while we're all together like this. It's almost three AM when Karl finally yawns, spurring everyone else into saying they're tired and talking about turning in for the night.

I let out a relieved sigh when all of them leave first, giving me a second to try and get myself under control. There's no way I'm standing up in front of all of them with my dick pointing to the ceiling. Hell no. 

"You're an idiot." Dream's voice rings through my ears just as I'm able to get myself calm enough that I can stand. He steps back into the living room and gives me a sweeping glance. "You really thought I wouldn't see it?"

I grit my teeth and square my shoulders as preparation to walk passed him. "Shut up."

He gives me a smirk and slaps a hand down onto my shoulder. "It's okay, dude. I won't tell him that you like him. But I am gonna make fun of you."

"Gee, thanks." I shrug him off and shake my head as I walk away. He just laughs behind me as I make my way down the hall to the room I slept in last night. The only difference between then and now is that I know there's someone else in there. Waiting for me.

I slip in quickly, barely getting the door closed behind me before George's body collides with mine. I lock the door as fast as I can before wrapping my arms around him. 

He shoots a wide grin up at me. "Hey."

"Hey," I whisper back, dropping my head just slightly so that our noses press against each other. "Come here often?"

George licks his lips and reaches up to tangle his thin fingers in my hair. "No, but I'm sure you could change that."

I snort out a couple of giggles at the stupid joke that sounds more like something Quackity might say. We stay like that for a few short moments, but eventually our lips brush. His are soft and sweet as I sip from them and his tongue curls beautifully against my own.

My hands fall to his slim hips as his tangle further into my messy hair. His body presses mine against the door and I almost laugh as I think about how we must look, clinging to each other like we're afraid we'll never see each other again with his small frame holding mine against the hard wood. Surely, we must look ridiculous.

Or maybe we look as good as we do in my head. Maybe he looks as perfect against me as he feels.

We've been waiting so long to be in this position and we're finally here and everything feels right. I feel a little bad for letting Dream think that this is all some one-sided crush, but not bad enough to correct him. I'm sure by the end of the night, he'll understand. 

George can get pretty loud when he's turned on. I'm so excited to finally see it in person instead of through a screen. Now, I can touch him.

I pull away for air and George grabs my hand, giving it a tug and pulling me over to the bed. He pushes me to sit down on the edge and climbs into my lap. The light behind him creates a halo effect, only serving to make him look even more angelic as he smiles sweetly down at me. 

He yanks his shirt off over his head before diving into me and connecting our lips together again. I laugh against his mouth as I run my hands along his bare sides, letting my fingers tickle his ribs as they glide down to tease at the waistband of his pants. He grabs my shirt, pushing is up until it's almost all the way off. 

It's only then that he lets his lips separate from mine again, pulling my shirt off and tossing it across the room. Both of us just stare at each other for a few moments, letting our hands drag along each other's bodies as we both soak in the feeling of being together like this for the first time.

I remember when Dream first suggested that we all meet up and basically live together for three months. All of us were so excited. After he offered up the idea, it was one of the only things that George and I could talk about when we were alone. We just kept fantasizing about what it could be like to finally be together in person.

The anticipation filled my chest for weeks and it's only now, with him settled on my lap and shirtless for me that I can finally feel it draining out of me. 

I reach up, brushing my fingertips against his soft cheek and smiling. "You're so fucking beautiful."

He grins, pressing his chest to mine and wrapping his arms around me. His head drops on my shoulder and I feel the puff of a heavy sigh waft across my neck. "I can't believe you're really here. We're really here."

"We are." I slide a hand along his spine, using the other to pet his soft, dark hair. He's so small and fragile-feeling in my arms. All I want to do is put him on the bed and tuck him in. 

Well, maybe that's not  _ all _ I want to do to him. I can think of other things we could do on this bed.

He pulls his head back to look me in the eyes again. Whatever he wants to say, I can tell it's hard for him to get out. His lips purse a few times and his eyebrows furrow, like he's not sure he should let himself speak.

"Just say it." I give him a gentle smile and rubs circles on the small of his back. "You can tell me anything."

He stares back at me for a few seconds before dropping his gaze. "I just... I wanted to tell you that I... That I, uh..." George shakes his head and his eyes squeeze shut as I wait with baited breath for what he's about to say. I have a feeling that I know what it is, but I can't make him say it. He has to do this himself.

Instead of letting himself continue, he pushes his hands up along my chest and drops his lips onto mine again. I keep my disappointment to myself. I guess today isn't the day for that. Oh well.

I let myself drown in the feeling of him, forgetting everything else for a moment. My hand dips into the back of his sweats and he groans, dropping his head back on his shoulders. I press my face against his neck, trailing soft kisses along his skin as my hand caresses his ass through his underwear.

He lets out a few quiet moans into the empty air around us. I slide my other hand from his hip and into the front of his pants, groaning at the feeling of his dick pulsing in my grip. 

"Sapnap," George whines, throwing his head forward and pressing his face against my neck as he rocks against my hands. His hips jerk and shake. 

I press a kiss against his temple as I slide the hand on his ass into his underwear, letting my fingers trail along his crack as he fucks my other hand. His arms slide under mine and wrap up so that he can grab my shoulders, anchoring himself to me as his rhythm speeds up. My middle finger presses against his hole and he groans against me.

"Take your pants off, George." I gently push him off of me, sliding my pants down my legs as I watch him do the same. 

His lithe body is stood in front of me, perfect in every way and beautiful in too many ways for my brain to comprehend. I find myself falling to my knees in front of him, ready to worship at his command. My hands slide up along his pale thighs to his hips and I caress the smooth skin with my thumbs. His dick stands out, pointing out perfectly toward me. 

I smirk and look up at him as my hands slide back to grab his ass. My tongue snakes out to swipe across the bright red tip of his dick. He moans, pressing his chin to his chest so that he can watch me. His hands push their way into my hair, just resting against my scalp as I slide my mouth further down his length. 

The color in his face only grows as he watches me suck his dick. 

I do have to admit that I like this a lot more than I thought I would. We both knew when we got into this that there was a chance that we would only actually like it in theory, but if either of our reactions right now are anything to go by, then I'd say we're both pretty into it. 

George bucks his hips against my face and his fingers tighten in my hair. I groan around him, letting my eyes fall shut as I press my nose into his pelvis. I gag as he hits the back of my throat, pulling myself back but not fully off.

"Sapnap."

I can feel the aching strain of my own dick standing at attention between my legs, begging to be touched. 

His body shakes against me and I look up at him with the head of his dick in my mouth, watching on as he fights to keep himself quiet. He has his lips curled into his teeth and his eyes firmly shut. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think he was in pain.

I pull off for a moment, trailing gentle kisses along his hip bone and giving his ass a quick squeeze. "You good?"

It takes him a while, but he nods and peels his eyes open. "I'm great." His voice is hoarse and strained. "I'm pissed we couldn't do this sooner."

I rest my chin on his hip and sigh against him. "So am I."

He runs his hands through my hair. "And you're enjoying yourself?" The question is quiet, almost nervous.

I grin up at him and pull myself back to give him a full view of my body. "What do you think?"

He smiles and raises his eyebrows. "Even prettier in person."

I laugh and roll my eyes at him, letting my hands slide up his back a little bit. He leans into my touch and I grin. "I love being able to touch you like this."

George smiles down at me, sliding his hands along my shoulders appreciatively. "Get on the bed, Sapnap."

I hesitate for a moment, but lift myself off the ground eventually. Before I turn to climb back onto the bed, I drop my head down to place a gentle kiss on his lips. I drop onto the bed, slowly shuffling my way up until my back is pressed against the headboard. 

George digs through his bag and it takes almost everything I've got to not jump off the bed and grab his ass every time he wiggles it at me. Obviously, I have an idea of what he's grabbing, but it's still kind of surreal when he turns around with lube and condoms in his hands. 

He grins down at me as he preps himself and the whole time I'm holding myself back from just launching at him, gripping the pillows that are piled up behind me to keep myself under control. His eyes lock with mine every time he moans out my name.

I watch as he slips his free hand down his stomach to wrap around his dick. His cheeks are so red as he looks at me and I stare back at him, noting every minute movement of his thin arm as he strokes his pretty dick. A clear drop of pre-cum builds on his tip and drops onto the sheets below him. 

I let out a groan, finally giving into my own lust and hauling myself onto my knees to pull him closer to me. He lets out a small squeak of surprise that I quickly snuff out with a kiss. 

My hand slides along his back and down, fingers wrapping around his slim wrist and guiding his fingers out of his hole. I slide my fingers along his, letting lube coat my hand as I kiss the life out of him.

My middle finger dips into his crack, pushing his cheeks apart to tease at the hole that I've only ever seen through a screen. He whines against my lips as I slide my finger into him and I feel myself moan at the feeling of his tight ass gripping me. 

I always knew he would feel good, but I haven't even gotten inside him yet and I'm ready to fucking bust. 

But I can't yet. Not until I actually get what we both want.

I push in another finger, pulling my head away from his and dropping my face into the curve of his neck to kiss his smooth skin as I appreciate how easily his hole opened up for me. A moan slips passed his lips and I have to bite down on his shoulder to keep myself from groaning as his nails cut their way down my back. 

"Sapnap." Hearing my name come from his lips is the sweetest thing.

I push my fingers deep into him, relishing in the way he squirms against me. His dick jerks against my thigh and I tilt my hips until we're sliding against each other while I stretch his ass. 

The noises that slip through his pretty, red lips drive me crazy with lust as I suck marks onto his pale skin and I almost wish that he was being loud enough for everyone in the house to hear him. To prove to them that he's mine. 

Fuck.

I wanna make him fucking scream for me. 

I press in a third finger and George lets out a breathy moan, dropping himself even further into my embrace. My teeth pull at his skin and he gasps quietly into the empty air around us. 

"Sapnap." He says it louder this time, but it still doesn't feel loud enough.

"George," I groan against his neck and rock my hips against his. "I wanna fuck you so bad."

He drops his head back on his shoulders, placing his elbows on either side of my head and holding my face to his body. "Please. Sapnap, I need it."

The neediness in his voices shoots through me like an arrow and--before I know it--my fingers are out of him and I have him on his back in the center of the bed. He stares up at me and I take the moment to admire how good he looks under me. 

I run my hands along his thighs as I shuffle closer. I reach back quickly for a condom and the bottle of lube, suiting up quickly and covering my shaft with lube. 

I can feel the anxiety in my body rising again. This has to be good for him. I can't hurt him. I have to make sure that he's getting as much pleasure from this as possible. 

"George?" I look down into his eyes, letting one of my hands trail along his side as I line my dick up. "Are you sure?"

He just gives me one of his big, beautiful smiles and grabs the hand that's caressing him, pulling until our clasped hands are resting above his head and I'm hovering over him. His other hand reaches up to tangle in the back of my hair. "Do it, Sapnap."

I nod, taking a second to release a heavy breath before looking down to make sure I actually make it into his hole. 

There's a bit of resistance at first, but it goes away quickly and I nearly collapse on top of him at the feeling of it. This doesn't feel a goddamn thing like my hand. What the hell?

"Holy shit." I drop my elbows on either side of his head as I bottom out, shaking with the effort it takes to not immediately start fucking the hell out of him. My body's instinct is to just start thrusting, but I know I shouldn't. I need to wait and make sure he's feeling okay. "Are you alright?"

George huffs out a laugh and loops his arms around my neck, pulling my face down to his and pressing a kiss to my lips. "I'm fine. You can start when you're ready. I'll let you know if I'm ever uncomfortable, alright?"

I nod and pull my body up, sliding my knees under his ass and grabbing the tops of his thighs to pull his ass tighter against me. Both of us moan as my hips instinctually buck against him. His arms shoot up and he grabs the pillow that's behind his head tightly as I let my hips roll the slightest bit.

My hands slide up his torso, fingers tracing over the lines of his lithe figure gently and eyes following them all the way up. I let my hands rest on his chest, my gaze pulling up past his neck to look at his gorgeously flushed face. His lips are slick with saliva and his eyes are heavy with lust as he stares up at me.

He grins and rolls his hips against mine, pulling a moan from my throat. I push my arms under him, looping them below his armpits and gripping his shoulders in an attempt to control myself. 

My head dips down, pressing against the smooth skin of his pale neck as I finally decide to move us along. My first stroke is shaky and stuttered, but neither of us address it. Instead, I pull further out and will myself to keep my hips steady as I press back into him.

George's hands move to press against my back, nails digging into the skin as my thrusting grows more assured. 

Our chests press together firmly as I fuck into him like my life depends on it. Every stroke pushes new noises out of him. Some of them resemble my name, but most of is is just gibberish that comes out in gasps and cries. 

Neither of us do much more than moan and exclaim each other's names, trying our hardest to stay quiet as I rock into him over and over.

I slide one hand down his body, taking his dick into my grip to jerk him to the rhythm of my hips. His volume spikes and I cringe, knowing that he has now definitely been loud enough to alert everyone else that’s in the house with us and we're never gonna be able to live that down.

I peel myself back for a moment, never slowing my pace as I stare down at his pretty face. Maybe the guys making fun of us won't be so bad. Not if I finally get to hold this man and call him mine in front of them. 

His eyes roll back in his head and flutter shut as a high pitched wail leaves him. I pause for a second while I try to figure out what made that sound come out of him. My hips pulse and the noise shoots from his mouth again.

I put my hand over his mouth, trying to keep the same angle and watching as he falls apart under me. His muffled whimpers and moans raise the hair along my arms as they grow in pitch and intensity.

I feel his body grow tight beneath me and I stroke his dick faster. His teeth push against my palm in a grimace as his back arches up and his dick shoots ropes of cum across his chest. The sight is so gorgeous that I almost don't even notice myself tipping over the edge until my face is buried in his neck again.


	9. Rough Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quackity has a nightmare about his past and Sapnap comforts him, while Karl sleeps.  
> No smut.  
> TW: Mentions and insinuations to past abuse.

Sapnap sweeps his gaze over the two men that are both clinging to him in their sleep. He smiles to himself, using his fingers to stroke the smooth skin of their backs under their t-shirts. He loves his fiancés more than anything else in his life and it's times like this that he's happy to have them.

It does make him sad that he can't sleep like them, though. He can sleep. He's an organic creature, after all, but he doesn't need near as much of it as Karl and Quackity do. One or two hours charges him right up and then he's ready to get back up and work. But he doesn't. He's pretty content to stay in the warm embrace of his two favorite men. 

Karl's unruly hair is splayed across his pale forehead, making Sapnap want to reach up and push it back for him. If he had his bandana on him, he would tie the other man's hair up for the night to keep him from getting too hot.

That's a problem they keep having since they started sharing a bed. The combined heat of three people--one of which was literally born in fire--certainly keeps things warm. 

Quackity shifts against him, letting out a soft sound that Sapnap doesn't quite recognize. The quiet whimper hits him in a place that he's not sure he likes. 

He's not used to having to worry about Quackity. At least, not the way that they both have to worry about Karl. Especially lately. Something has been up with the smaller man. He keeps forgetting plans that they have and the other day he even called Sapnap 'James'. Whatever that's supposed to mean.

Another whine leaves Quackity's lips and Sapnap looks down his chest at the other man, watching his face as he sleeps. 

His eyebrows are pulled together tightly on his face, worry lines pulling at the scars that already mark his tan skin. Sapnap pulls his hand up, pressing his fingers against the wrinkled lines, smoothing them out gently in an attempt to calm him. 

A sharp cry bursts from the shorter man and his eyes shoot open as he pushes himself away, clawing at Sapnap in an attempt to escape. Sapnap let's go of him, watching the other man scramble off of the bed and fall onto the floor in a heap as he tries to disentangle himself from Karl.

The sweet man hums pleasantly as Sapnap pushes a pillow into his arms. 

Sapnap rolls to the edge of the bed, looking down at Quackity. His body is curled tightly into itself and his eyes are wide open, but distant. Every movement that Sapnap makes as he gets off of the bed is slow and deliberate in an attempt to not scare his fiancé anymore than he already is. 

"Quackity?" Sapnap crouches in front of the other man, hesitantly reaching out a hand to touch the other man's hair. 

Quackity's eyes snap to him as he pushes at the strands. His tense posture relaxes slightly, but not near as much as Sapnap would have expected. 

"Sapnap?" His voice is strained. "You're here?"

Sapnap feels his brows furrow together as he shuffles closer to Quackity. "Of course, I'm here. You're my fiancé."

Quackity nods his head absently. "Right. Right."

Confusion fogs Sapnap's head as he maneuvers his body next to Quackity's. He reaches an arm across Quackity's shoulders, letting the other man sink into his embrace at his own pace. They're both quiet for a long time, just holding each other on the floor and taking heavy breaths. Occasionally, Sapnap looks at the bed to make sure that Karl is still sleeping peacefully. 

"Did you have a nightmare?" He asks quietly, not even looking at the man next to him as he waits for an answer.

Quackity lifts his head from Sapnap's chest for a moment before resting it against him again. "It was... more like a memory. I thought I was done with these stupid flashbacks, but... I don't know." He shakes his head, pressing himself tighter to Sapnap's side. 

Sapnap feels his own face harden as realization pulses through him. "It was about  _ him _ , wasn't it?" This time, he turns to look at his fiancé--his soulmate--as he waits.

Their gazes meet for a brief moment before Quackity turns his away, seeming to be much more in favor of staring at the wooden floor beneath them. A floor that they put down together. 

"Yeah." Quackity chews on his lip and sighs, pulling slightly away from Sapnap to pull his knees against his chest again. 

Sapnap adjusts himself to fully face the other man, letting his palm slide down Quackity's back. "He's never gonna touch you again. Even if he wasn't dead, Karl and I would never let him even see you. You’re ours and we will always protect you."

A tear falls down Quackity's cheek. "I don't want to have to be protected. I should be able to do this by myself. I won't always be able to rely on you guys to keep me safe."

Sapnap purses his lips. His eyes fall closed for a moment as he ponders his next words. "Sometimes I wish that we never had to leave this room. I wish the three of us could ignore everything to do with the outside world and be happy without worries. I just want to wrap the two of you up in bundles of blankets and keep you safe without even the threat of harm."

Quackity frowns, finally shooting a glance in his fiancé's direction. "You sound like a total nutball."

A soft laugh disturbs the quiet room around them and Karl shifts around in their bed. Sapnap leans forward, pressing his forehead to Quackity's. "I know."

Quackity tips his chin, letting their lips brush against each other for a short moment. Neither of them linger for long, instead opting for short, soft kisses where their lips barely touch each other's. 

Sapnap's lips pull into a smirk as Quackity's hands slide into the long, shaggy strands of his hair. Their noses rest together for a moment as both of them soak the other in with Quackity almost fully in Sapnap's lap at this point.

It's not often that they let themselves be this affectionate toward each other. Usually, they refrain unless it's all three of them. Even then, both of them almost always point their attention towards Karl. 

Obviously, they love each other, but their dynamic works best when they're focused on Karl. Their personalities are too hot-headed, competitive, and stubborn for them to always be sweet to each other, but that's part of what makes their relationship with each other special. They know the realest, most horrible versions of each other and they have still somehow found a way to love each other.

Sapnap feels Quackity's fingers migrate to his face, tracing over his own pale scars. 

He's sure that they should be worse than they are. They should look like Quackity's and everyone else’s, but they don't. He's known since he was small that there was something different about the way he healed and reacted to heat, but he's never been able to figure out why.

Bad has always claimed him as a son, but the older he gets, the less sure he is that that's true. The only thing he does know is that he was born in flames. He would live in them if he could. Bathe in them if his skin allowed it. 

Quackity drags a finger down over Sapnap's lips, gliding over the rough stubble that grows on his chin and down his neck to the collar of his t-shirt. "I love you."

Sapnap smiles, pressing a more drawn out kiss against his lover's lips. "I love you, too." He glances at their bed. "We should probably lay back down. He's gonna start to get restless soon."

Quackity looks away, panning his gaze over Karl's disheveled form for a few moments. "I'm sorry that I woke you up."

"You didn't." Sapnap stands and reaches out a hand to help the other man off the floor. 

He lets himself be pulled to his feet as confusion clouds his face. "What do you mean? You were already awake?"

Sapnap nods and shrugs. "I've never needed much sleep."

"But you lay with us all night?"

A smile pulls at Sapnap's lips. "I like to watch you guys sleep. I like to know that you're safe."

"I guess I understand how you got your name." Quackity smirks as they both crawl back into bed.

Sapnap replaces the pillow in Karl's grasp, settling all of them back into their previous positions. He strokes their hair gently, pushing Karl's away from his face and letting Quackity's silky strands slide through the gaps between his fingers. "Try to get some sleep. I'll be right here watching over you the whole time. No one is getting to you without going through me first."

Quackity gives him a small smile before burying his face against his chest. "Night, Sap."

"Good night, Quackity."


	10. Born in Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapnap finds Karl's library.  
> Sapnap Origin  
> No smut.  
> I did not come up with the theory that is presented in this fic. I'm not naming the theory here, because I don't want to spoil it, but the original references I've seen to this have all been on TikTok, though I'm sure it appears on other platforms as well. Please enjoy!

Sapnap gives Bad a crooked smile that feels almost as empty as he does these days. He doesn't necessarily have anything against his dad, but sometimes he just wishes that he could meet his real parents. He appreciates everything that Bad has done for him, but there's a sense of longing in his chest that has always pushed him to go out and find the truth.

Finding something like that might be easier if anyone actually knew where he came from. Maybe if Bad knew anything more it would be easier to find answers. 

"Would you like to meet the Egg?" Sapnap can tell by his tone that it's not the first time that Bad has asked and he frowns.

That's all he cares about these days. That stupid Egg. Sapnap couldn't care less about the thing. All he wants to do is mow down the vines and watch the chaos that it causes. Maybe he could set that shit on fire. 

He's been getting better at controlling his flame, but he can never be sure if he'll accidentally hurt someone with it. A few weeks ago he was messing around with it and his flame caught George. He had water, so it wasn't a huge deal, but all he can think about what might happen if Karl or Quackity found themselves on the other end of his flame. He can't risk hurting them.

"I think I'm gonna pass on that for today." Sapnap grabs his knapsack from beside his chair and stands up. "I should probably get going. Karl might start to worry if both of his fiancés are missing for too long."

Bad purses his lips with a nod. "How long has it been since you've seen Quackity anyways? At this rate, you might as well just marry Karl and forget about the pesky blister."

Sapnap feels flames lick at his skin as he glares at the only father figure he's ever had. "I know you don't like him, but you could at least pretend--for me. There is no world where Karl and I get married without Quackity, so get used to it."

Bad's face softens and he takes a step forward, crouching and reaching through Sapnap's fire to press his palm to his scruffy, bearded cheek. "You know I just want the best for you."

A sigh escapes him and the fire fades out, falling around him and sparking up the grass under his feet. "I know." He reaches up to put his own hand over Bad's. "You just need to understand that the best thing for me isn't always going to be what you think it is."

A frown pulls across the demon's face and his gaze shoots over his adopted son's shoulder. "You better get going. It's getting dark. Karl will be happier if you make it home safe instead of respawning."

Sapnap nods, stepping away from the much taller figure. "I'll see ya in a few days, Bad."

"Be careful."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sapnap passes their shroom farm just as night begins to fall and he let's a happy sigh fall from his lips as the entrance to their kingdom comes into view. 

Grass brushes at his ankles as he treks on, tickling his skin and making him wish that he had worn his longer pants that day. Usually, something like that wouldn't bother him much, but today has just dragged on too long for him. All he wants right now is to make it back home and cuddle up in bed with his fiancés. Or, at least Karl.

The library is bright and illuminated as he approaches the entrance. This was the first thing they built here. Their first big landmark. 

His sneakers soles slap against the hardwood floors as he makes his way to the mushroom in the back. Sapnap presses his palm to the large trunk of it, trailing his fingers down the smooth texture of it. The trap door under him creaks and he frowns.

He drops to his knees, pressing on each trap door and trying to remember which one Karl told him not to touch. He looks around himself, making sure that he's alone as his fingers curl around the wooden edge of one of them. It couldn't hurt anything if he just took a peek, right? Karl would never have to know.

He tugs on two of them with no luck, then moves onto the third. Something about this one is different. It has hinges. He really should have checked for that sooner. 

Sapnap almost expects the panel not to open, but it does. He climbs down the ladder before he can stop himself, letting the trap door slam shut as he descends.

The room he finds himself in is small and full of books. But they're not the same books that line the walls of the library upstairs. No, these books are all glowing in frames below pictures that Sapnap has never seen before. 

No, that's not true. He's seen one of them. A picture of him and Dream and Quackity. From that weird treasure hunt Karl convinced them to go on a while back. Why does he have that down here?

Everything else in the room looks old. Older than him and maybe even older than Bad. Like a collection of history or something.

Why would Karl feel the need to hide this from him? Sapnap doesn't care if Karl's a history nerd. No, there has to be something else here.

He looks around the room again and spots a chest just a few paces away. He approaches it slowly, reaching out to open it as he gets closer. Before he can, he notices something behind it: Karl. His face is pressed against the page of a book that he seemed to be in the middle of writing in before he fell asleep.

"Karl?" Sapnap rounds the chest and crouches in front of his fiancé who's skin looks paler than ever. "Karl?" He shakes the other man's limp body, pulling the book from his grasp and setting it on the chest next to them. 

Karl's eyes blink open slowly, his gaze hazy as he tries to figure out what's going on. 

For a moment, he smiles up at Sapnap. Then, as he realizes where they are, his expression grows panicked. "You shouldn't be in here. Why are you in here? You have to get out!"

"What?" Sapnap shakes his head as he tries to contain the smaller man in his arms. "It's just a bunch of books, Karl. Nothing is going to happen." Just as the words leave his lips the earth around them shakes, raining down dirt and mushroom pieces onto their heads. He looks down at Karl. "That was a coincidence."

Karl grits his teeth and closes his eyes. "No. No no no. You weren't supposed to see any of this. Now everything is going to be messed up." He squirms in Sapnap's grasp, clawing at his skin in an attempt to get away. "Let me go. I have to check on the library."

"The library is fine." Sapnap grabs Karl's shoulders and holds him an arm's length away. "I came through it to get here."

"No!" Karl screams this time, shoving Sapnap's hands away and shooting across the room. "Not this library. The other one."

"The other one?" Sapnap questions as he chases his fiancé up the ladder and into the Kinoko Kingdom Library. He checks to make sure that nothing is out of place as he follows behind the other man. "Karl? Where are you going?"

"Don't follow me!" The frenzied man shouts over his shoulder as he runs, kicking up patches of dirt with his shoes. "I have to fix this!"

Sapnap's pace never slows as he follows Karl all the way back to where L'Manburg used to sit. He sees the ruins of Party Island and stumbles over his own feet as he watches Karl duck into the empty cave that used to be his library. That must be what he meant.

There's evidence of the Egg's vines everywhere that he looks.

He follows with little hesitation, sliding down the ladder smoothly and landing heavily on his own feet. Sweat clings to his brow as he looks around for Karl's colorful sweatshirt. He searches around until he finds himself at the mouth of what looks to be a small cave, but grows as he descends until he finds himself face-to-face with Karl and a giant swirl that looks just like his sweatshirt.

Or--at least--how it used to look. Sapnap knew he wasn't crazy when he asked if it had changed.

"Karl?" Karl's gaze snaps to him as he approaches, regarding him in the same way one might regard a Creeper the first time they see one. "Karl?"

Karl shakes his head as tears stream down his bright red cheeks. "Something is wrong! There's a vine in here!" He reaches up and pulls down a Bloodvine, immediately throwing it away from himself like it burned him. "It can't get in here, Sapnap! It can't touch the portal!"

"'The portal'?" Sapnap takes a step closer as he studies the scene behind his fiancé. "That's just a bunch of dyed wool, Karl. The Nether portal is all the way-"

"Not the Nether portal!" Karl screams and shakes his head, turning to face the wall off wool and stroking his fingers across it. The blocks ripple at his touch. "The time portal. My portal."

"Karl-"

"No!" Sapnap has never seen Karl this passionate before. His long eyelashes as filled with tears and his normally flawless skin is blotchy and red as he shouts. "The Egg will ruin everything I've worked for!" He finally locks eyes with Sapnap. "I have to stop this."

Karl pushes his hand into the wavering wool. It slips right through and his foot follows. Almost all of him is through before Sapnap can do anything, but he does manage to take hold of Karl's second hand. He tries to pull him back, but he's not strong enough and Sapnap finds himself falling into the wool behind his fiancé.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing that Sapnap notices when he wakes up is the splitting pain in his forehead. The second thing he notices is the hand that's still interlaced with his own. Karl's hand. He tugs hopelessly as he tries to find a way to open his eyes, gasping as what must be Karl's entire body topples onto him. 

That certainly makes his open his eyes. His gaze lands on the softer man's face for only a few moments to make sure that he's still breathing before bouncing around to the environment that surrounds them.

His eyebrows pull together and he frowns. The Nether? So, that thing really was a portal? But, how?

"Wha-" Karl cuts himself off, quickly scrambling away from Sapnap with a confused look. "James?"

Sapnap frowns. That's not the first time Karl has called him by that name. "No. I'm your fiancé. Sapnap."

"You followed me through?" Karl's face is as pale as a ghast, even with the warmth of the lava lighting up his face. "How?"

"I grabbed your hand." He shakes his head and looks around them. "I thought you said it wasn't a Nether portal?"

"It's not." Karl glances around them for a few seconds. "It's never brought me to the Nether before. Which could only mean..." He's quiet for a long while. "Either, I was meant to come here or you messed it up."

"What?"

Karl just shakes his head as he starts looking around them for something. What that could possibly be, Sapnap isn't sure. Suddenly, he points somewhere behind Sapnap. "Fortress. We need to go there. I can feel it."

Sapnap lets Karl grab his hand and pull him along through the dangerous terrain of the Nether, cursing himself when he realizes that he doesn't have a single item or block on him. Karl tugs and yanks at Sapnap's arm the entire time, insisting that they have to go certain ways even though it's clear that Karl doesn't actually recognize a damn thing around them.

Finally, their sneakers hit the netherbrick of the Fortress. They weave through endless halls until they stumble upon a Blaze spawner platform, but instead of a Blaze spawner, the platform holds a single blaze and a grizzled looking man. His puffy white shirt is torn and burnt in several places and the mask that rests on his face is cracked in several places.

Sapnap could say that he doesn't recognize the man, but that would be a lie. He looks almost like a carbon copy of the man in front of him, give or take a few decades. 

His eyes shoot to his fiancé. Karl's confusion shows on his face, but there's also a hint of familiarity in those features. "Do you know him?"

Karl give Sapnap a short glance. "That's James."

Sapnap feels fire lick his skin and it takes him a moment to realize that he's the one generating it. He steps away from Karl, only to realize that his flame isn't affecting him. "What the-"

Karl shushes him, watching the scene in front of them avidly. 

Sapnap turns his head to watch, too, wondering what it is about this guy that could make Karl become so entranced. Sure, he's good looking, but so is Sapnap. And Sapnap's his fiancé, shouldn't that count for something? 

He takes a step forward without thinking, the sound echoing off of the enclosed walls and drawing the attention of the man that is just a few steps above them. 

"Karl?"

That's the only thing he says before the Blaze in front of him shoots him with fireballs. He lets out a scream and drops his sword to the ground as his body burns.

Sapnap tries to rush forward to help him, but Karl grabs his arm and wrestles him back as they watch James fight for his life. He looks at them--at Karl--for a moment before using the last of his energy to throw himself onto the Blaze.

A blast of light overtakes Sapnap's vision for a moment before dying back down into the dull light of the Fortress hall. When his eyes finally adjust, he sees something he didn't expect. A flaming baby.

"Is that-" His question gets cut off by the sound of loud loud and heavy footsteps. 

Karl snags his hand again and pulls him to the side, urging him to start digging at the netherrack with his hands so that they can hide. They just barely make it into their hide-y hole when a tall figure reaches the end of the hall they were just in.

The two of them watch on as Bad walks passed them and up the stairs, crouching the whole way. "I thought I heard something over here. I wouldn't have guessed it was a baby on fire, but that's honestly not the weirdest thing I've seen in these places. Let's get you out of here, buddy." Bad lifts the baby up and turns around until Karl and Sapnap can see the baby clearly. 

As he walks away, Sapnap stares in awe. He's not sure how, but that baby was him.


	11. His Third Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of seeing his own birth, Sapnap struggles with his morals.  
> No Smut.

"Karl?" Sapnap looks back at his fiancé as he stumbles out of their hiding spot. "Is this... Are we in the past?"

Karl's gaze is steady and glossed over, piercing straight through Sapnap as he also makes his way out into the open hall of the Fortress again. Bad's footsteps are long gone by now, but neither of them raise their voices any higher than a whisper. "Yes. At least, we must be. I never really know at first."

Sapnap feels the question that's been bugging him slipping out of his mouth without much thought. "Who was that? That James guy?"

Karl frowns and lets out a heavy breath. "I met him once. During a different trip though my portal. But he's supposed to be dead. He was dead."

"You watched him die?" He reaches out, pulling the smaller man into his arms and holding him tightly against his chest. "Twice."

They stand there for a few minutes, Sapnap running his hands along Karl's back soothingly in an attempt to make him feel better. He's never really had to deal with death and comforting someone. Everyone around him that he cares about have come back when they've lost a life. Losing one has never been a big deal. At least, not for him.

He's never lost a life of his own. Never had to deal with going through whatever everyone else goes through when they've died. Sure, he's fallen pray to a creeper or two, but that's nothing like falling victim to a death at the hands of one of his peers. It doesn't hold the same weight.

Karl pushes away from Sapnap's chest with a gasp, looking up with his hazel eyes full of tears that have yet to spill down his blotchy red cheeks. "You're him."

His brows furrow together for a moment. "What?"

"You're James. You've always been James." Karl blinks and tears catch in his eyelashes before finally breaking passed and flowing freely down his cheeks. "I thought I was crazy or sick. Looking at him the same way I've always looked at you after only knowing him for an hour or two. But I wasn't. Because he's you."

Sapnap just stares down at Karl as he talks, barely taking in a word as he tries to comprehend the first statement.  _ You're James _ . Logically, he knows that that shouldn't make sense, but he watched with his own eyes as that man who looked so much like him melded together with that blaze. He watched as they morphed into a fiery baby with a wail loud enough to shatter eardrums. He watched as the demon he's always known as his father scooped him up and carried him away, staking a claim on a baby that's so familiar only because of the few pictures he's seen of himself at that age.

And suddenly another thought occurs to him. If that really was James' second death, does that mean that Sapnap only has one, instead of the three that he's always assumed? Does he have even less time than he thought?

Karl's blabbering slowly trails off as he takes in the look of horror on his fiancé's face. Sapnap has never been an overemotional guy, so seeing him with flames lifting his hair and tears so hot that they morph into lava and burn soft white cheeks sends Karl aback a bit. Fire dances around them, pulsing with every sob that tears through Sapnap's broad chest and igniting infinitely brighter as his head drops to Karl's shoulder.

"Sapnap?" His voice is soft and warm as he pushes a hand up into the other man's soft, dark hair. "Sapnap, are you-"

A screech breaks through the roaring fire and something hits Karl in the side of his ribs, pushing both of them and making them fall to their knees. Sapnap's head snaps up, his normally deep blue eyes completely taken over by an angry fiery red. He lets out a yell--a war cry--and engulfs the entire hallway in flames that burn not only the blaze that interrupted their moment, along with the spawner. The netherbricks around them have visible charring as the fire dies back down to only encapsulate the two of them.

Karl takes a single step back, immediately grabbing Sapnap's hand and turning away. "We need to leave. We have to get back home."

Sapnap knows that he's right, but part of him wants to stay right where he is and never move again. Why should he? He could just die at any moment and never come back. He's been so reckless during all of the wars because he always just assumed he would come back and everything would be fine. Finding out that he's been living on borrowed time irks him.

Of course, he could be wrong. The universe might have decided to grace him with a full three lives, but how could he ever figure that out? If he dies and he  _ does _ only have one life yet, then that's it. 

Unless...

Dream. The resurrection book. He could get it. Have a failsafe just in case. 

He thinks about it as Karl drags him along. He'd have to break a lot of trust to get that book. Break so many promises that he made to himself and others. But what choice does he have? He needs to know.

The trip back through the portal is confusing. He steps onto obsidian only for his foot to land on stone. Behind him is the wall of wool and beside him is his sweet fiancé who has apparently been keeping more secrets from him than he could have ever imagined. 

Karl doesn't even look at him as he walks away, pulling several books out of the single chest that rests in the cave and dropping down as he immediately starts writing. Sapnap just watches him, pressing his back against the stone around them as he waits.

He needs to go see Dream. He needs to figure out a way to get him out and get that book.

Can he even trust Dream anymore? After everything he's seen the other man do, should he really put his own life and so many others at risk just to satisfy some dumb theory that might not even matter in the long run? Should he risk everyone around him, just to figure out if he has a measly two extra lives? Should he risk his fiancés and their trust in him, just to satisfy himself?

The cave around them lights up as he thinks about it. He's never had this much trouble with his flame before. Usually, he can barely get it to light, but now it's like he can't make it stop.

At least Karl seems to be immune to it. Somehow. He wonders absently if Quackity would be affected by it. If there's just something about his fiancés that keeps them safe from him. Not that either of them have seen Quackity in weeks.

At some point, Karl stands up, looking dazed and out of it when his gaze finally catches on Sapnap. "What are you doing here?"

Sapnap pushes himself away from the wall of the cave and grabs Karl's hand, feeling his flame die down just slightly as he smiles at the other man fondly. "Just came to find you. Are you ready to go home?"

Karl grins up at him, the look in his eyes sweeter than sugar and honey. "Yeah. Let's go home."

They don't talk as they climb out of the cave, cutting down bloodvines again on their way out. Their hands twist together in a familiar way that warms Sapnap from the inside out, causing a trail of burnt grass to form behind them as they make their way towards their new kingdom. Neither of them comment on it, but Sapnap does look behind him every few steps to make sure that the flames don't spread to the buildings around them as they leave the main territories. 

By the time the mushroom barn comes into sight, Sapnap can feel Karl lagging behind. His eyes droop with every step they take and Sapnap has the urge to pick the other man up and carry him the rest of the way to the library. 

When their feet finally land on hardwood and mushroom, Karl pulls away and gives Sapnap a short, apologetic look. "I'll be right back." He dips behind the large mushroom in the back of the room and Sapnap wonders if Karl remembers any part of what just happened. Wonders if that's why he has so many books down there.

He pops back out of his little hole quickly enough and the two of them make their way to the single bed that rests in the room until they can someday build a real house for themselves. They climb in together, squeezing tightly against each other on the small mattress. Karl's breath tickles Sapnap's skin through the thin fabric of his shirt.

Soft snores carry through the mostly empty room as Sapnap feels his own eyes start to fall of their own volition. His last thought before he finally passes out is of Dream and the supposed book that could give him all of the answers he needs.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sapnap's eyes snap open, expecting the bright light of the sun to be blinding him from the doorway, but instead there's a dark figure hovering over him. It's not dark for long. His flame ignites, engulfing everything around him. 

The person steps back and Sapnap tries to kill the flame before it can ruin any of the building around them.

He steps out of bed, leaving Karl to lay by himself as he takes up a defensive position. "Who are you and what are you doing in Kinoko Kingdom?" His voice is strong and demanding, just the way he wants it to be.

A chuckle breaks through the chilly air around him, lifting the hairs along his arms. "Is that any way to speak to your fiancé?" 

Sapnap's shoulders drop and he steps closer to the other man. "Quackity?" Hope fills him as he stumbles forward. "You're back!" Another soft laugh hits his ears and he stops moving. That's not Quackity's laugh. "Schlatt. Show yourself!" He draws his sword as he looks around them. "Quackity, get over here. He can't hurt you anymore."

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" The voice that wraps around him is warped and jumbled, a mix of familiarity and harsh bitterness. Another loud laugh shatters the atmosphere around them. 

His flame pulses enough for him to see Quackity's face morphing and changing, growing horns only for them to disappear again. His pickaxe scar breaks open, pouring blood down his cheek as he continues to cackle with two voices.

Behind him, Karl moves around in bed and Sapnap spins to find him completely drained of his color. His sweatshirt that's usually so vibrant and bright is now only shades of gray and white. His eyes are cold and empty, staring blankly back at Sapnap as he sits up in bed. "James?"

Wind whips around them all and whispers fill his ears. Promises of impossible things filling his head as the entire floor above them flies into the sky. 

Bad stares down at him, somehow even larger than normal. His hand reaches down, rescuing Sapnap from the hell that has taken over his new home and lifting him until he can't even see the ground below them.

"Dad?" He rarely ever calls Bad that, but it slips passed his lips anyways.

Bad just gives him a grin and a short laugh. "You're not my son." His voice gets impossibly deep. The world around them shakes and Sapnap stumbles in Bad's palm. 

A new laugh surrounds him at the same second that Bad's hand disappears from under him. A laugh that he knows all too well. He falls for so long, listening to the maddening laugh until he finally finds himself face down against the dirt. 

"Finally." That cold voice blankets him as he tries to get up. Something presses at the middle of his back and he collapses back to the ground. "You're here. I wondered how long it would take you to show up."

Dream's voice feels like knives on Sapnap's skin.

"Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Let me out!" His tone changes and he screams. Sapnap's ears ring as the sound of it gets louder and louder with every word and he tries to muffle it with his hands. The yells just get louder and harsher and angrier, begging him to let Dream out. "If you want that stupid book, you have to let me out, Sapnap!"

The words dance around his head, almost visible even when he closes his eyes. 

It's only when he has the strength to open them again that everything finally falls silent. He's back in the library, with Karl cuddled up to his chest as the cold night air pushes its way into the large room. It's so quiet, but his ears still hurt as he stares up at the ceiling.


End file.
